ABUJA, Nigeria - A video circulated by an armed group appears to show hundreds of people being held after raids on a mosque and nearby communities in north-central Nigeria, residents said, raising fears that the scale of the abduction could be far greater than first reported.

The recording, posted Sunday on Facebook and WhatsApp, shows a large group seated on the ground in a forest while armed men stand nearby. Women, children and older people appear among the captives. Reuters said it could not independently establish the exact date or location of the footage, but four residents identified people they knew in the video and no earlier version of it was found online before August 23.

Residents cited by Reuters estimated that about 600 people were taken during simultaneous attacks in communities in the Borgu area of Niger State. That figure has not been confirmed by police or independently verified. Initial accounts collected by the Associated Press put the number at between 60 and 80, illustrating the severe information gap that often follows attacks in remote areas.

The raids began Friday in Borgu Local Government Area. Police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun confirmed that people had been abducted and said security forces were deployed, but he did not provide a total. Local officials and residents said armed men struck villages and entered a mosque during prayers. Some people suffered gunshot wounds while escaping.

A youth leader from one of the affected communities told the Associated Press that his 85-year-old father was among those taken. Families have been searching for relatives while troops and police pursue the attackers through difficult terrain. No group had publicly claimed responsibility by Monday.

The difference between the early estimate and the number later given by residents should not be resolved by choosing the most dramatic figure. Names must be checked household by household, people who escaped must be separated from those still missing, and communities hit at the same time must be counted without duplication. Until that work is done, the video is evidence of a large hostage group, not proof of an exact total.

Even with that caution, the footage exposes a brutal reality. Mass abduction has become a method for turning unprotected communities into leverage. Captives can be used to demand ransom, pressure officials and generate fear far beyond the place attacked. A recording of crying children and vulnerable adults is not simply documentation; it can also be part of the coercion.

The attackers benefit from an information vacuum. In the first hours after a raid, mobile coverage is poor, roads are dangerous and frightened residents scatter. Conflicting figures then circulate while families wait for official answers. The longer authorities take to establish a credible list, the more control the kidnappers gain over the public narrative.

Nigeria's security forces face vast territory and armed networks that move across forests and state boundaries. Those difficulties are real, but they cannot become a permanent explanation for why worshippers and villagers remain exposed. Freedom to pray, travel and live without being seized is a basic duty of the state, not an optional service reserved for cities.

The immediate response should center on the victims rather than political claims. Authorities need one verified register of the missing, a family liaison system that gives relatives regular updates and a protected channel for intelligence from local residents. Raw hostage footage should not be amplified carelessly, because wider circulation may reward the abductors or expose captives to further danger.

There must also be public accountability after the rescue effort. Officials should explain what warnings existed, how quickly forces were deployed and why communities remained vulnerable after earlier raids. Democratic government earns trust by confronting failure with facts. Silence and vague assurances leave citizens to depend on messages released by criminals.

No evidence currently identifies the perpetrators with certainty, and no movement should be blamed before investigators establish responsibility. But uncertainty over the attackers does not make the victims less real. The images from the forest show what happens when armed groups believe distance, fear and weak institutions will protect them from consequences.

The final number may rise or fall as families are accounted for. What should not change is the urgency. Nigeria must recover those taken, deny kidnappers the ability to dictate events and show remote communities that citizenship carries the same protection wherever they live.