Scores of people kidnapped from mosque in Nigeria, residents say

Armed men have kidnapped a number of people from a mosque in Nigeria's north-central Niger state, residents and police have said, in the latest mass abduction in a region plagued by violent gangs.

Residents said scores of people were captured, with some estimating the figure to be around 60 to 80 people. A search for survivors is under way.

The attackers stormed ⁠Kpenya Mosque in the Dekara district of ​the Borgu local government area at around 2pm (1pm UK time) on Friday after first attacking Gidan-Zana and Kpenya villages, police ​spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said.

Mr Abiodun did not provide figures but said no lives were lost in the attacks, and said the military was deployed to the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Read more from Sky News:
Former world champion boxer shot dead outside his home
'17-year-old girl killed' in sword attack at Swedish school

Borgu council chairman Abdullahi Mohammed Nasir said at least 60 people were abducted and an unspecified number of people sustained gunshot injuries while attempting to escape.

"People were abducted while praying," Mr Nasir said. "That was when the bad people came and surrounded the mosque and took them away."

Zubairu Umar Talba, a youth leader in Dekara, said his 85-year-old father was among those captured.

Mass ⁠kidnappings for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, where heavily armed criminal ⁠gangs, ​known locally as bandits, often ​raid villages, schools and highways, sometimes clashing with each other.

In November, gunmen attacked a Catholic boarding school in a western region of Nigeria and abducted more than 200 schoolchildren. They were released in December.

(c) Sky News 2026: Scores of people kidnapped from mosque in Nigeria, residents say