A night of prayers turned into chaos in the Egbola community of Lokoja, Kogi State, when gunmen attacked a prayer site and abducted several participants.
The incident occurred late Thursday along Agbaja Road, where worshippers had gathered on a mountain for a vigil. Eyewitnesses said the attackers fired sporadically to scare the crowd before whisking away some individuals into the nearby forest.
Members of the Kogi State Vigilante Service swiftly responded to the situation. In the course of their search-and-rescue operation, a woman identified as Mary Adams Gure managed to break free from her captors.
A security source involved in the rescue confirmed that Mary was found during a confrontation between the vigilantes and the kidnappers.
Efforts are still ongoing to locate the other abductees, though officials have not released the exact number of people taken in the raid.
The attack has raised renewed concerns over security around remote worship sites in the state.
