With elections set for January, President Tinubu seeks to clamp down on kidnapping development in northern Nigeria.
Printed On 26 Aug 2026
Nigeria has launched a hunt for lots of of individuals kidnapped from mosques within the north of the nation.
The army and different safety companies started the operation on Wednesday after President Bola Tinubu ordered a serious rescue mission to search out an estimated 600 worshippers who had been abducted from an space round Dekera village in north-central Niger State final week.
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“I’ve directed the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Power, the Division of State Providers, and all related safety and intelligence businesses to launch a coordinated rescue operation instantly for the victims of the latest mass abduction in Niger State,” the Nigerian president wrote on social media late on Tuesday.
Mass kidnappings for ransom have been on the rise in northern Nigeria for the reason that begin of the yr. The problem has turn into politically delicate earlier than a presidential election in January with safety more likely to be a serious marketing campaign subject.
On Sunday, kidnappers released a video of what seems to be a big group of individuals being held captive by armed males in a forested space.
Within the footage posted on Fb and WhatsApp and circulating extensively, youngsters will be heard crying. A gunman will be heard talking within the Hausa language on to households of the captives, telling them to determine their relations.
Information businesses couldn’t confirm the precise date or location the place the video was filmed, however no model of the video has been discovered posted earlier than Sunday.
An official from the district the place Friday’s assaults occurred, informed the Reuters information company that 30 folks had been killed and so they had been buried on Sunday.
Amnesty Worldwide urged Nigerian authorities to safe the discharge of the worshippers, warning of the rising menace posed by mass abductions in northern Nigeria.
In its first public assertion on the incident, the Nigerian presidency condemned the “cowardly assault on defenceless Nigerians” and pledged that these accountable could be delivered to justice.
“You aren’t alone,” Tinubu wrote, addressing the households of these killed and kidnapped. “Your entire nation shares your anguish. We won’t relaxation till your sons, daughters, moms and dads are introduced again safely to you.”
Abubakar Umar, head of the Dekera group, informed Reuters that no less than 2,000 folks fled into neighbouring Benin after the assaults.
Northwest Nigeria has lengthy been a transit zone for arms and gunmen crossing via West Africa. Alongside neighbouring Niger, Chad and Benin, the world is more and more the positioning of Boko Haram and ISIL (ISIS) assaults.
Kabir Adamu, an Abuja-based safety skilled, informed Reuters it was not potential to say who was liable for the mass abductions however he anticipated the gunmen who launched the video to succeed in out and demand a ransom.
The kidnapping, which happened in broad daylight, confirmed how ineffective safety operations in Nigeria have been, he stated.
Nevertheless, “terror won’t cow Nigeria,” the Nigerian president insisted.
“We’ll defend our folks, defend our communities, and uphold the sanctity of human life,” Tinubu stated, noting he had directed the nation’s safety chiefs to present him common briefings on the rescue operation’s progress “till all these kidnapped are accounted for”.
