A video showing what appears to be a large number of people held captive by bandits in a forest has emerged.
This comes days after hundreds of worshippers were reportedly abducted in Niger State.
The footage, which has been widely circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp, showed men, women, and children gathered in what appeared to be a forest location.
Some of the children could be seen crying as armed men stood around the captives.
In the video, one of the armed men, speaking in Hausa, addressed relatives of the captives.
He urged families watching the footage to identify their loved ones among those being held.
“These are all your people,” the gunman said.
The identity of the group behind the video and the exact location where it was recorded could not be independently verified from the footage.
The video emerged two days after gunmen reportedly abducted no fewer than 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village, Niger State.
Residents said the attackers carried out simultaneous raids on several communities in the area before taking away a large number of people.
The reported abduction has heightened anxiety among residents, with fears growing over the fate of those taken into the forest.
Authorities have yet to publicly confirm whether the people shown in the video are among those abducted from Dekera and neighbouring communities.