---
title: "A video suggests far more were taken from the Niger State mosque than first reported"
description: "Residents put the number at more than 60 when we first reported the attack. Footage circulated on Sunday shows a large group held in forest, and the figure now given is as many as 600. A gunman speaking Hausa tells families: these are all your people."
category: "World"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/world
author: "Elena Castro"
published: 2026-08-24T19:35:20.000Z
updated: 2026-08-24T19:35:20.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/a-video-suggests-far-more-were-taken-from-the-niger-state-mosque-than-first-repo
tags: ["nigeria", "kidnapping", "niger-state", "security", "tinubu"]
---
# A video suggests far more were taken from the Niger State mosque than first reported

Residents put the number at more than 60 when we first reported the attack. Footage circulated on Sunday shows a large group held in forest, and the figure now given is as many as 600. A gunman speaking Hausa tells families: these are all your people.

A video circulated on Sunday shows a large group of people held by armed men in forest, two days after worshippers were seized during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village, Niger State. As many as 600 people were taken, [Al Jazeera reports](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/24/kidnappers-release-video-showing-hundreds-abducted-from-nigerian-mosque).

We [reported the attack on Friday](/residents-say-more-than-60-were-taken-from-a-mosque-in-niger-state) with residents putting the number at more than 60, and police saying they could not confirm a figure.

## About that discrepancy

Sixty and six hundred are not a rounding difference, and we are not in a position to say which is right.

What can be said is how such gaps usually arise. The first count after a mass abduction comes from whoever is present and able to name the missing, which is a fraction of the affected households. Numbers rise as villages compile lists, and they can also rise because a captor releasing footage has an interest in appearing to hold more people than he does.

The video is evidence that a large group is being held. It is not an audit. We are reporting the higher figure as the one now given, alongside the earlier one, rather than replacing the record.

## What the footage shows

A gunman speaking Hausa addresses the families of the captives: "These are all your people." Children can be heard crying. The video was posted on Facebook and WhatsApp and circulated widely.

A resident, Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, said: "We have identified our elders, relatives, and some of us have seen their wives and children in the video."

That identification is the cruel function of releasing such footage. It converts a family's uncertainty into confirmation, and confirmation is what makes a ransom demand effective. No demand has been reported.

## The official response

Obed Nana, a state commissioner, said an operation is under way to "assess the situation, track the attackers, and facilitate the rescue of the abducted worshippers". Police and state authorities otherwise declined to comment.

Mass kidnapping for ransom has become routine in northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs taking people from villages, schools and highways. President Bola Tinubu faces criticism over security ahead of elections in January 2027, which is the political context and not the reason the story matters.

## What we could not establish

We could not establish how many people were taken, how many are still held, whether any ransom has been demanded, who the captors are, or whether anyone was killed in the attack. Both figures in this account come from a single publication each, and neither has been confirmed by the authorities.

## Sources

- [Kidnappers release video showing hundreds abducted from Nigerian mosque](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/24/kidnappers-release-video-showing-hundreds-abducted-from-nigerian-mosque)