Armed attackers abducted Muslim worshippers after Friday prayers in Niger State, north-central Nigeria, police and residents said, in the latest incident highlighting worsening insecurity in communities around Lake Kainji.
Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said suspected terrorists attacked Gidan-Zana and Kpenya villages in the Dekara district on Friday afternoon. In Kpenya, the attackers reportedly entered a mosque during prayers and abducted an unspecified number of worshippers. Others fled into nearby forests.
Police said no deaths had been reported in their initial assessment and that security forces had been deployed to establish the number of people taken and search for the victims. Residents said the attackers also moved through Dekara, Gidan Zana, Masaka and Sabon Gida, abducting worshippers and other residents.
The attack comes amid growing insecurity in the wider Borgu-Kainji area, where armed groups operate across extensive forested terrain. On August 12, police reported recovering nine bodies along the Wawa-Lumma road in Borgu, with the victims believed to have been killed while travelling through the area.
Security forces have intensified operations in the region in an effort to rescue those abducted and disrupt the armed groups operating in the forests. The latest incident has renewed concerns over the safety of communities surrounding Lake Kainji.
