Tinubu Orders Hunt for Gunmen After Mass Abductions in Niger State, Victim Video Surfaces Online

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has directed security forces to track down the gunmen behind coordinated raids on four villages in Niger state that left more than 40 people dead and scores of others missing.

The assaults took place last Friday in a remote area of the state, with residents reporting that several mosques were struck at the same time while worshippers gathered for prayers. A youth leader in the community estimated that up to 500 people could have been taken captive, although that figure has yet to be confirmed by authorities.

Pressure on the government intensified after the abductors released footage on social media showing a group of captives seated in a forest. Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun put the death toll above 40 but cautioned that officials were still working to verify the exact number. The attackers, described by locals as wearing military-style attire, hit the villages of Dekara, Gidan Zana, Sabon Gida and Masaka.

The youth leader, who declined to give his name, said he identified numerous acquaintances in the video, among them an elderly man from Gidan Zana whom he described as a grandfather figure. For families who spotted loved ones in the footage, he noted, there was at least some comfort in knowing they had survived — unlike households still waiting for any word on missing relatives.

A blogger familiar with the region told the BBC that large numbers of residents have abandoned their homes, fleeing to nearby states or crossing into Benin. Survivors are being treated in hospital, some for severe wounds. A local official added that the raiders laid improvised explosive devices along the routes they used to march captives into the bush, and that one teenage boy died when a device went off as he attempted to flee.

In a statement released through presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu condemned both the killings and the mass abduction, pledging that the perpetrators would face justice. The president called those behind the assault enemies of peace and of humanity who would not escape accountability, and extended condolences to grieving families. No ransom demand has so far been made public.

Officials had initially linked the violence to bandit gangs that operate across parts of Nigeria's north-west, but the episode underscores deepening insecurity in the Borgu area, which borders Kebbi and Kwara states as well as Benin. Earlier this month, police announced the rescue of 145 hostages seized from four other villages nearby, and local leaders have voiced alarm over jihadist fighters moving into border communities and imposing religious restrictions on residents.