Extremists attacked and abducted a number of worshippers in Nigeria's Niger State, authorities said on Saturday.

Police said the armed men attacked a number of villages in the Borgu Local Government Area before storming a mosque in the village of Kpenya during Friday prayers.

"People were abducted while praying at a Juma’at mosque on Friday," Borgu area council chair Abdullahi Mohammed Nasir told the Associated Press.

"That was when the bad people came and surrounded the mosque and took them away."

Some witnesses recounted extreme violence.

"Soon after finishing the normal Friday prayer, the armed group [...] in their hundreds, wielding guns, knives and machetes, began to attack us," one survivor told the AFP news agency. "They slaughtered some of our people, saying we are not practicing the true teachings of Islam."

Local residents told the AFP and Reuters news agencies that dozens of people — as many as 60 — were kidnapped.

Witnesses also told AFP that the armed men killed several people, although according to police, "the developing report indicated that no life ‌was ​lost."

Who was responsible for the attack?

No group claimed responsibility for the attack in the day that followed and police have not identified the culprits.

One witness told AFP that the gunmen belonged to Lakurawa — an increasingly radical outfit that researchers link to the "Islamic State Sahel Province" group.

Another resident told AFP that the attackers were Ansaru, which split from Boko Haram and is now aligned with al-Qaeda.

Witnesses also said that a third, rival jihadi group known as Mahmuda clashed with the attackers and allowed some of the abductees to escape.

Although jihadi attacks have declined in Nigeria since the height of Boko Haram's insurgency last decade, the military and police remain overstretched as they face multiple, sometimes overlapping conflicts.

In addition to jihadist insurgency in the north, parts of Nigeria also face violence and kidnappings from non-ideological gangs known locally as "bandits."

Edited by: Sean Sinico

Don't let the algorithm hide the news. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here and hitting the "star" or "preferred" button, so you'll always see our verified news first.