A video has surfaced showing hundreds of people, including women, children, and elderly individuals, who were abducted from a mosque in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State last week. The footage, posted on Facebook and WhatsApp, appears to show around 600 captives seated in a forested area surrounded by armed men, with several children crying in the background. The mass kidnapping is the latest in a series of such incidents in north-western and north-central Nigeria, where heavily armed gangs frequently raid villages, schools, and highways, holding people for ransom.
The violence, which was previously concentrated in the north, has increasingly spread to southern regions. The video emerged two days after gunmen attacked worshippers at the mosque in Dekara village during Friday prayers, taking people away in simultaneous raids on several communities. In the footage, a gunman speaking in Hausa addresses the families of the captives, urging them to identify their relatives among the people shown.
Residents of Dekara village have confirmed the identities of some of those seized, with one resident, Ibrahim Abubakar, saying he recognized 13 people he knew. Another resident, Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, said those who appeared in the video were taken during the prayers, and that they had identified their elders, relatives, and some of their wives and children. The police and state authorities have yet to comment on the incident, despite earlier confirming an attack on worshippers in the area.
However, they said they could not verify the number of people abducted. Residents are now appealing to the federal and state authorities to secure the release of the captives, highlighting the presence of mothers with infants and children among those shown in the footage.
