Kidnappers have released a video purportedly showing hundreds of worshippers abducted during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village, Niger State.
The video, which surfaced on Sunday and has circulated widely on Facebook and WhatsApp, shows a large group of people being held by armed men in a forested location.
Gunmen reportedly abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers in Dekera, with residents saying several communities were simultaneously attacked.
In the video, children could be heard crying as an armed man speaking Hausa addressed the families of the captives and urged them to identify their relatives.
“These are all your people,” the gunman said.
The exact date and location where the video was recorded could not be independently verified. However, reports said no earlier version of the footage had been found online before Sunday.
Some residents have identified relatives and community members among those shown in the video.
Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, a resident, said, “We have identified our elders, relatives, and some of us have seen their wives and children in the video.”
Police and Niger State authorities had yet to respond to requests for comment at the time of filing this report.
However, Niger State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Obed Nana, told the Anadolu news agency that security forces had launched an operation to assess the situation, track the attackers and facilitate the rescue of the abducted worshippers.
Amnesty International has also called on Nigerian authorities to secure the immediate release of the victims, warning of the growing threat of mass abductions across northern Nigeria.
Kidnappings for ransom have become increasingly common in parts of north-western and north-central Nigeria, with armed groups targeting rural communities, schools, places of worship and major highways.
The attacks have also increasingly spread beyond traditional kidnapping hotspots, putting more communities in other parts of the country at risk.
The latest incident is expected to further intensify pressure on President Bola Tinubu’s administration over its handling of Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.
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