On 5 August the presidency announced the rescue of 308 people from the Kainji Lake National Park forest. Sixteen days later, communities near the park say 547 people were taken into it.

The presidency's statement said 163 of the 308 were abducted from Woro in Kwara State and 145 from Niger State. It described a coordinated, intelligence-driven operation by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre with the armed forces, the DSS and the police. It called the operation the largest single-day rescue by the joint security team. The Kwara State Government confirmed the release of 176 residents of Woro and Nuku the same day. The Nigerian Democratic Report said this ended six months in captivity since a 3 February attack.

The same statement directed security agencies to strengthen early warning systems, community intelligence gathering and rapid response, to prevent future incidents.

On 21 August, attackers raided mosques in Dekara District, in Niger State near the park, and the communities say 547 people were taken into the forest. The reports cited here don't establish whether the same group was behind the Woro and Dekara attacks.

Armed groups have a documented presence around the park. Dataphyte reports that armed groups reportedly set up camps in parts of Kainji Lake National Park from May 2023, displacing park staff. In Dekara, it reports, armed groups have raided and sought cooperation from some communities for more than a year. A mass abduction hit the district roughly a year before this one, it adds.

President Tinubu directed the armed forces, police and DSS to coordinate a rescue. Al Jazeera reported on 26 August that a hunt for the worshippers had been launched.

Other recent cases show a wide range of outcomes. Pupils and teachers taken in Oyo State on 15 May spent 56 days in captivity before a joint operation freed them in July. Sixteen NYSC members taken on a Kogi highway on 26 August were rescued five days later. Those cases were separate, and each turned on its own circumstances.

Habibu Salihu, a civil servant, told Reuters on 4 September that his sister gave birth a week before she, her husband and three children were kidnapped. Seven other relatives were killed, he said. He saw his sister breastfeeding her baby in a video the kidnappers released soon after the attack. He had heard nothing since.

For the Woro families, captivity lasted six months. For the families in Dekara, it is 38 days so far.