UNIDENTIFIED militia kidnapped 10 humanitarian aid workers in south-western Niger at gunpoint while they were distributing food to villagers in the impoverished country as sectarian and jihadist violence plunges the region into turmoil.

The workers were from the Action and Impact Progress (Apis) NGO, a partner of the UN World Food Programme which has worked in the region close to the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali “without problems” over the past year.

Apis spokeswoman Kadidiatou Harouna said masked gunmen on motorbikes rode into the village in the Tillaberi region on Wednesday and forced their captives to follow them.