Nigeria: Niger Mosque Attacks - 14 Members of My Family in Captivity - Student

What the report says

A Daily Trust report distributed by AllAfrica says Muhibbat Abass, a student in Niger State, has described the personal toll of the August attack on four Juma'at mosques in Borgu Local Government Area. She said 14 members of her family were among the worshippers abducted, including her father, grandfather, siblings and other relatives. Abass said the violence and the loss of family support have forced her to stop attending school.

According to the report, the attacks hit Dekara, Kpenya, Sabon-Gida and Gidan-Zana communities during Friday prayers. Residents and community leaders have given differing counts of those taken, with local groups saying 547 people were abducted, while Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago and the Borgu council chairman gave much lower figures. The communities also said dozens were killed and houses were burned, and they released names of missing people to support their claims.

Other affected families told Daily Trust that they had identified relatives in a video released by the armed group after the raids. Several interviewees said loved ones remain in the forested area around Kainji Lake National Park, and some families say they have not been contacted by the abductors. The report underscores the continuing uncertainty over the true number missing and the wider displacement, trauma and loss of livelihoods in the area.