Nigeria's president orders manhunt after kidnappers upload victim video

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a nationwide manhunt after armed kidnappers released a social‑media video allegedly showing people they abducted from four remote villages in Niger State’s Borgu region.

The attack targeted the villages of Dekara, Gidan Zana, Sabon Gida and Masaka, with police saying more than 40 people were killed and up to 500 abducted, though numbers are unverified.

The attackers, believed to be bandit gangs, dressed in military‑style gear and claimed to have placed improvised explosive devices along escape routes, killing at least one teenager when an explosive detonated.

In the released footage several men and women sat in a forest, confirming the claim that the kidnappers had relocated the victims. A local youth leader identified some of the figures, offering families relief that their loved ones were alive.

President Tinubu’s spokesman warned that the perpetrators would be brought to justice and condemned the "cowardly attack on defenseless Nigerians". No ransom demands have been reported so far.