Nigeria: Gunmen Abduct Over 160 Worshippers in Church Attacks. Kaduna, Nigeria — At least 163 Christian worshippers were abducted by armed gangs during Sunday services in Kaduna State, Nigeria, a member of the clergy told AFP. Officials commented on the matter.
Reverend Joseph Hayab, the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria for the country’s north, stated that the actual number abducted was 172, with nine worshippers managing to escape. “
The attackers came in numbers and blocked the entrance of the churches and forced the worshippers out into the bush, “Hayab.
The exact number of people abducted remains unclear, with Ishaku Dan’azumi, a traditional chief of Kurmin Wali, stating that 166 people were seized from three churches in the village.
A lawmaker representing the area, Usman Danlami Stingo, reported that 168 people are still missing.
A security report prepared for the United Nations indicated that “armed bandits “attacked multiple churches in the area on Sunday, abducting “over 100 worshippers.”
The Kaduna State police confirmed that troops and other security agencies have been deployed to the area, with efforts underway to track the abductors and rescue the captives.
Gangs, known as “bandits “in Nigeria, frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages, particularly in the northern and central parts of Africa’s most populous country. Sunday’s attacks are the latest in a recent wave of abductions targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
Roughly evenly split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim — majority north, Nigeria is home to myriad conflicts, which experts say kill both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.
In November, armed gangs seized more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in Niger state, with 50 escaping and the rest being released in two batches weeks later. Further details regarding the motive behind the kidnappings, the identities of the suspects or groups responsible for the attacks, and the measures being taken by authorities to prevent future attacks and rescue the abducted individuals remain unclear.
The local communities and the international community’s response to the situation in Kaduna State are also yet to be fully elaborated.
Sources: dw. Com, reuters. Com, cbn.
Com.
*Additional reporting by ImNews | Sources consulted: 4*
