Gunmen have released a video claiming to show as many as 600 women, children and older people abducted during Friday prayers, after attackers stormed mosques in Nigeria's Niger state and killed more than 40 people. The footage, circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp and narrated in Hausa, urged families to identify relatives among the captives shown seated in a forest. Residents confirmed the identities of some hostages, including a village chief and mosque imam.
President Bola Tinubu ordered a manhunt and condemned the assaults, which targeted the villages of Dekara, Gidan Zana, Sabon Gida and Masaka. Attackers also destroyed solar-powered communications infrastructure and planted improvised explosive devices, one of which killed a teenage boy attempting to flee. More than 200 residents have fled across the border into Benin.
Amnesty International urged authorities to secure the safe release of the hostages. Police confirmed the attacks but could not verify the total number abducted. Mass kidnappings for ransom remain widespread across north-central and northwestern Nigeria.