Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has ordered security forces to track down gunmen accused of killing dozens of people and abducting residents from four villages in Niger state.
The attacks took place last Friday in the remote Borgu area, near Nigeria's borders with Benin and the states of Kebbi and Kwara.
Residents had reported that several mosques were attacked at the same time while people were attending prayers. A local youth leader said up to 500 people could have been taken hostage, although the figure has not been independently verified.
The scale of the abductions became clearer after the attackers shared a video on social media showing a group of people sitting in a forest. The kidnappers claimed those shown were among the people taken during the attacks.
Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun told the BBC that more than 40 people were killed, although authorities have not yet established the exact death toll.
