A comprehensive look at the Borgu LGA mosque attacks, the conflicting casualty figures, the video of captives, and the federal rescue operation now underway under President Tinubu's direct order.
Minna, Niger State — Updated August 27, 2026
More than a week after gunmen struck four mosques in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State during Friday prayers, the crisis remains unresolved, with a federally-ordered rescue operation now underway but no confirmed breakthrough in freeing the captives.
The attacks began on Friday, August 21, when terrorists simultaneously stormed mosques in Dekara, Kpenya, Sabon-Gida, and Gidan-Zana communities during Juma'at prayers. Residents told Daily Trust that large numbers of attackers invaded the mosques while prayers were underway, took control of the worship centres, assembled worshippers, and marched them into the surrounding forest. The area sits near the Kainji Lake National Park and the border with the Republic of Benin, terrain security sources describe as a difficult-to-reach mobility corridor already used by armed groups.
Nearly a week on, official and resident accounts of the scale of the attack still diverge sharply. Borgu area council chairman Abdullahi Mohammed Nasir put the confirmed number of kidnap victims at around 60, with some injured while fleeing gunfire.
Police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said no deaths had been confirmed and did not provide a specific abduction figure. Resident and international media estimates, by contrast, have ranged as high as 600 abducted, a number that gained further weight when the armed group behind the attack released a video showing large groups of captives, mostly described as women, children, and elderly worshippers, seated under armed guard in a forest clearing.
Several residents told Reuters they recognised specific individuals in the footage, including elders and children from Dekara. Reuters said it could not independently verify the video's authenticity, and Niger State authorities did not respond to requests for comment on it.
Adding to the confusion, one Dekara youth leader told the Associated Press that his own 85-year-old father was among those taken, a detail illustrating how even individual families are still piecing together who exactly is missing, more than a week after the raids.
The Nigerian Army deployed troops to the Dekara area within days of the attack to begin rescue operations, according to an operational report cited by the News Agency of Nigeria. The Niger State Government, through Commissioner for Information and Orientation Obed Nana, said Governor Mohammed Bago directed relevant authorities to work closely with security agencies to secure victims' release and restore normalcy, while acknowledging that the precise number of those abducted was still being determined.
The most significant escalation came on August 25, when President Bola Tinubu directed the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police Force, DSS, and other security and intelligence agencies to launch an immediate, coordinated rescue operation.
In a statement by his spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu described the attackers as "enemies of peace and enemies of humanity" and pledged that they "will not go scot-free." He directed the Service Chiefs to brief him regularly until every victim is accounted for, telling affected families:
We will not rest until your sons, daughters, mothers and fathers are brought back safely to you.
As of this report, there is no confirmed rescue of any of the abducted worshippers, and the scale of the tragedy, whether closer to the roughly 60 officially acknowledged or the hundreds residents describe, remains unresolved.
The incident adds to a deepening pattern of violence in the Borgu-Kainji axis, which has recorded repeated attacks on villages, schools, and travelers in recent months, with analysts warning the area risks becoming an entrenched new corridor for extremist activity absent a sustained counter-terrorism response.
This remains a developing situation. We will update this report as confirmed information becomes available.
More on Niger State