ABUJA — An armed group has posted a video showing what residents said were about 600 women, children and older people abducted in an attack on a mosque in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state last week.The video, posted on Facebook and WhatsApp, showed large groups of people seated in a forested area surrounded by armed men. Several children could be heard crying in the background.The video emerged on Sunday, two days after gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in Niger state.The incident comes as Nigeria prepares for presidential elections in January, with security likely to be high on the agenda due to a wave of mass kidnappings for ransom across the north of the country.Dekera village residents have reported that gunmen took people away in simultaneous raids on several communities.In the video circulating widely, children can be heard crying. In the video, a gunman speaking ⁠in Hausa addressed families of the captives and urged them ‌to identify relatives among the people in ‌the footage.“These are all your people. We ​are showing you this video so that ‌you can identify your family members, your fathers, mothers, children and relatives,” ‌the gunman said.News agencies reported that they could not verify the exact date or location where the video was filmed. However, no older version of the video has been found posted online before Sunday.Four residents said they were able to confirm the ‌identities of some of those seized.“The people in the video are from Dekara. I’ve identified 13 people that I ⁠know,” Ibrahim ⁠Abubakar told Reuters.Another resident, Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, said those who appeared in the video had been seized during the prayers. “We have identified our elders, relatives, and some of us have seen their wives and children in the video,” he said.Police and state authorities did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Police had earlier confirmed an attack on worshippers in the area but said they could not verify the number of people abducted.Resident Jamilu Ibrahim appealed to federal and state authorities to secure the release of the captives, pointing out the number of mothers with infants ​and children among those shown in ​the footage.Amnesty International has urged Nigerian authorities to secure the release of the worshippers, warning of the growing threat posed by mass abductions in northern Nigeria.State Commissioner for Information and Orientation Obed Nana told the Anadolu news agency that an operation is under way to “assess the situation, track the attackers, and facilitate the rescue of the abducted worshippers”.Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently raiding villages, schools and highways and holding abductees until the gangs are paid large sums of money.Increasingly, the gunmen are targeting communities further south, beyond ‌hot spots in the north.As he prepares for the election, President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.