Armed men broke into a mosque in north-central Nigeria on Friday and took several worshippers hostage, police confirmed on Saturday.
The attack happened at about 2 p.m. at Kpenya Mosque in the Dekara area of Borgu Local Government Area, Niger state, according to police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun. He said the gunmen first raided the nearby villages of Gidan-Zana and Kpenya before heading to the mosque.
Abiodun said no one was killed in the incident. A joint team of security forces has been sent to the area to assess the situation and begin rescue operations. He added that police do not have an official count of those taken.
Residents gave a different picture. Locals who spoke to Reuters said more than 60 people were abducted, and that the attacks were coordinated. They reported simultaneous raids on Dekara and three other communities in Borgu while people were gathered for Friday prayers. Reuters has not independently verified those numbers.
Mass abductions for ransom have become frequent in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria. Heavily armed criminal groups, commonly called bandits, regularly target villages, schools, and highways in the region.
