A joint police and military operation is searching parts of Mariga Local Government Area in Niger State for farmers abducted by suspected bandits, but authorities are still working with sharply different estimates of how many people were taken.
The Niger State Police Command says more than 20 people were abducted at Mukura village in the Kasuwan-Garba District on September 27 at about 3 p.m.
Police spokesperson SP Wasiu Abiodun said joint security rescue efforts were ongoing.
But the chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Aliyu Muhamadu, has put the number of abducted people at more than 47.
The conflicting figures have not been reconciled.
Farmers taken during harvest
According to the local-government account and current reporting, the victims were abducted while harvesting groundnuts in the Mariga area.
The council chairman said most of those taken were women, alongside some men.
He also said one woman gave birth while in captivity.
That account has not been independently verified by IDNN and remains attributed to the council chairman.
Current reporting also indicates that some families have not established direct contact with their abducted relatives and do not have definite information about where they are being held.
Ransom demand reported
Muhamadu also said the abductors had contacted relatives and demanded ₦2 million for each victim.
The ransom demand is based on the council chairman’s account and has not been independently confirmed by police.
Police have publicly confirmed the abduction and ongoing rescue operation but have not adopted the council’s figure of more than 47 or the reported ransom demand in the accounts reviewed by IDNN.
That distinction matters as families wait for reliable information about who was taken and their condition.
Security operation continues
Current reporting says police and military personnel have moved into the area as part of the search.
Local officials have also said vigilantes were involved in rescue efforts and that an encounter occurred during the operation.
IDNN is withholding specific movement details, suspected holding locations and other operational information that could endanger captives or security personnel.
The public-safety priority is the safe recovery of those abducted.
The accountability question comes next: why different authorities are still working with significantly different victim counts several days after the abduction, and when families will receive a reconciled official account.
For now, one fact is clear.
People were taken from farming communities in Mariga, security forces say rescue operations are underway, and the reconciled number of abducted people has still not been firmly established.
