A video circulating online appears to show hundreds of women, children and older people who residents say were abducted after an attack on a mosque in Niger State. The footage, shared on Facebook and WhatsApp on Sunday, has raised fresh fears over the fate of worshippers taken during Friday prayers.
Reuters reported that the video shows large groups of people seated in a forested location while armed men stand around them. Children can be heard crying in the background. However, Reuters said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or confirm the number of people shown.
The video emerged two days after gunmen attacked worshippers at a mosque in Dekara village in Niger State during Friday prayers. Residents said the incident was part of simultaneous raids on several nearby communities, although authorities have not confirmed the reported figure of about 600 abductees.
Police had previously confirmed an attack on worshippers in the area but said they could not establish how many people were taken. Other reports have put the number of people abducted at significantly lower figures, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the scale of the incident.
In the video, a man speaking in Hausa addresses relatives of the captives and asks them to look closely at the people shown. He says the footage is intended to help families identify relatives who may have been taken.
Residents have appealed to federal and state authorities to intensify efforts to locate and rescue those missing. Jamilu Ibrahim, a resident, expressed particular concern about mothers and children reportedly seen among the people in the footage.
The Niger State government has said the number of victims and other details were still being verified, while security agencies have been deployed in the affected area.
The incident adds to growing concerns about mass abductions in parts of north-central Nigeria, where communities have faced repeated attacks and kidnappings. With the authenticity of the latest video and the reported figure of 600 yet to be independently confirmed, authorities face mounting pressure to establish the facts and secure the release of those still missing.
