Armed gangs with “sophisticated weapons” kidnapped worshipers from at least two churches in Kaduna state. Nigeria faces several internal conflicts that have affected both Christians and Muslims — often indiscriminately.
A leader at Nigeria‘s Christian Association said that 163 worshippers were kidnapped during Sunday services from two churches Kaduna state.
“The attackers came in numbers and blocked the entrance of the churches and forced the worshippers out into the bush,” Reverend Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria for the country’s north, said on Monday.
“The actual number they took was 172 but nine escaped, so 163 are with them,” he said.
A politician representing the area at state parliament, Usman Danlami Stingo, on Monday talked of three separate attacks during Sunday church services. He put the number of abducted at 168, according to the Associated Press.
A police spokesperson told Reuters news agency that gunmen with “sophisticated weapons” attacked the two churches, but that police were still trying to confirm the number taken.
The attacks occurred in the village of Kurmin Wali, a largely Christian forest community. It is remote and difficult to reach due to bad roads, the police spokesperson said.
Police said troops and other security agencies had been deployed to the area and that efforts were under way to track the abductors and rescue the captives.
Such attacks are common in central and northern Nigeria, where multiple criminal or “bandit” gangs, as well as religious armed groups, raid remote communities with limited security and government presence.
In November, armed gangs seized more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in Niger state, which borders Kaduna. They were released weeks later in two batches.
Nigeria’s abductions are predominantly for ransom, with armed groups using the money to fund other crimes and control villages.
