The move followed the release of a video apparently showing hundreds of captives being held by armed men
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered an urgent operation to rescue people abducted by gunmen last week in the north-central Niger State region.
Tinubu said on X on Tuesday that the armed forces, police, Department of State Services, and other security and intelligence agencies have been instructed to coordinate efforts to locate and free the captives. He also ordered security chiefs to provide regular updates until all those abducted have been accounted for.
“We will not rest until your sons, daughters, mothers and fathers are brought back safely to you,” the president said, adding that those responsible for the attack “will not go scot-free.”
The order comes after an armed group released a video apparently showing hundreds of people being held captive in a forest.
The footage, circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp on Sunday, showed large groups of captives sitting on the ground surrounded by armed men, with children heard crying in the background. The video emerged two days after gunmen attacked worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekara village and carried out simultaneous raids on several nearby communities, according to residents.
An official in the Borgu district, where the attack took place, told Reuters that 30 people had been killed and were buried on Sunday. Niger State Governor Umaru Bago condemned the attack and ordered the authorities to work with security agencies to secure the release of those abducted, the Punch outlet reported.
Mass kidnappings for ransom have become common in parts of northern Nigeria, where heavily armed gangs frequently target villages, schools, and highways. Earlier this month, families in northeastern Borno State staged a protest demanding government action nearly 100 days after dozens of children were abducted from a school and nearby homes. Around 40 remain unaccounted for.
Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have previously targeted schools in the northeast. The region has been at the center of a longstanding Islamist insurgency, with mass abductions, including the 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 Chibok schoolgirls.
