Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A document obtained exclusively by SaharaReporters has revealed the identities of 547 Muslim worshippers abducted by terrorists during Juma'at prayers in Niger State on August 21, 2026, exposing a staggering gap between the official narrative of the state government and the grim reality on the ground. The victims were taken from five communities in the Dekara District of Borgu Local Government Area, including Dekara, Kpenya, Giagbasso, Gbenji and Gbebara, and were marched into the vast Kainji Lake National Park forest, where their whereabouts and condition remain unknown more than a month after the incident.
The breakdown of the abductions paints a picture of a coordinated assault on multiple communities. According to the document, 88 people were abducted from Dekara, nine from Kpenya, 104 from Giagbasso, 341 from Gbenji, and five from Gbebara, bringing the total to 547. The document, signed by Zubairu Umar, a local youth activist, and seen by AFP, listed all 547 names individually, describing it as a "comprehensive" count and stating that their whereabouts remain unknown as of September 24, 2026.
Among those identified from Dekara are Abubakar Lafiya, the village head of Ka'ada, and Mamuda Lafiya, the Magaji of Dekara. The list also includes Alhaji Idris Haruna, Umar Shero, Idris Samari, Ibro Samari, and Mohammed Bio Kozi. Women and children feature prominently among the abducted, with names like Rakiya Yahaya, Wasila Yahaya, Balkisu Garba, Maryam Mohammed, Hajara Mohammed, and Fatima Gayya Yusuf appearing on the list. From Gbenji, the community with the highest number of abductions, the document identifies dozens of family members, including Mussinat Aliyu, Kalimat Aliyu, Mukadas Aliyu, Abass Aliyu, Jafar Aliyu, Nafiu Aliyu, and Rabiu Aliyu, along with Rekiya Mohammed, Adikut Mohammed, Anatu Haruna, and many others.
The sheer scale of the abduction contradicts claims made by the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, who said only a "few dozen" people had been abducted. His comments sparked protests on Monday in Borgu district, where locals insisted that hundreds had been taken during the attack on the mosque in Dikera, also known as Dekera or Dekara, and the surrounding villages. The governor's spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A video circulating on social media following the raid showed several hundred people, many of them women and children, gathered in a forest and presented as hostages taken from Dikera. The emergence of the footage, along with the document listing all 547 names, has intensified pressure on the state government to account for the victims and provide accurate information to their families.
The attack itself was brutal and calculated. According to security sources and community accounts, the terrorists struck around 2:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21, 2026, during Jumu'ah prayers. They first attacked Gidan-Zana and Kpenya before storming a mosque in Kpenya, where worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers. The attackers also abducted residents in Gidan Zana, Masaka, Sabon Gida and other surrounding communities. Among those taken were the 90-year-old father of the District Head of Dekara and the Chief Imam of Dekara Central Mosque. About 30 other worshippers who attempted to escape during the invasion were reportedly shot dead by the gunmen.
A resident told SaharaReporters at the time that the attackers deliberately targeted communities and worshippers during the Friday prayers. "They attacked when people were going for Jumu'ah prayers. They first went to Gidan-Zana and Kpenya, and then they entered the mosque at Kpenya and started taking people away," the resident said. "People were also taken from Gidan Zana, Masaka, Sabon Gida and other nearby villages. The attacks happened almost at the same time, so it was clearly coordinated".
The attack was reportedly preceded by demands for levies and the imposition of strict religious rules on communities in the area. A community source said residents had rejected the demands, raising fears of retaliation by the terrorists.
President Bola Tinubu ordered security forces to launch a coordinated rescue operation shortly after the attack, and the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, deployed the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 7, Victor Olaiya, to Niger State to coordinate the rescue effort. On September 3, security forces arrested a suspected Lakurawa fighter identified as Dego in the western axis of Borgu Local Government Area. Dego is linked to attacks and mass abductions around Dekara, and his arrest could provide crucial intelligence on the group's movements, networks and the possible location of the hostages.
However, more than a month after the abduction, the 547 victims remain in captivity. The document listing their names has become a symbol of the government's failure to protect its citizens and its apparent reluctance to acknowledge the true scale of the tragedy. The discrepancy between the governor's claim of a "few dozen" abductions and the documented 547 names is not merely a matter of numbers. It is a question of accountability, transparency, and the value the state places on the lives of its citizens.
The Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger State has called on the government to provide adequate security at places of worship across the state, describing the attack as "barbaric and sheer wickedness." The Chairman of CAN in Niger State, Most Rev. Dr. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, expressed solidarity with the victims and their families and urged Christians across the state to intensify prayers for the safe return of the abducted Muslim worshippers.
For the families of the 547 victims, the wait has been agonising. They have names, they have faces, and they have the document that proves their loved ones were taken. What they do not have is information about their condition, their location, or whether they are still alive. The government's response, so far, has been measured in press releases and rescue operations that have yet to yield results. The victims remain in the forest, and their families remain in the dark.
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