Gunmen stormed two churches in Nigeria’s Kaduna state on Sunday, turning a morning of worship into a scene of fear and chaos. According to police and church leaders, dozens of people were dragged away into the surrounding forest during coordinated attacks that have left families desperately waiting for news of their loved ones.
The assaults happened in Kurmin Wali, a remote forest community in the Afogo area, shortly before midday. Police said the attackers arrived heavily armed, carrying what they described as “sophisticated weapons”. Witnesses say the gunmen surrounded the churches, blocked the entrances, and forced worshippers to abandon the buildings before herding them into the bush.
Rev. Joseph Hayab, a senior Christian leader and head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the north, said the scale of the abductions was devastating. Speaking to news agencies, he revealed that church elders confirmed the abduction of up to 172 worshippers, with only a handful managing to escape. “They came in large numbers,” he said. “People had no chance to run.”
The kidnappings are the latest in a growing wave of mass abductions across Nigeria, particularly in northern and central regions. Criminal gangs, often referred to locally as “bandits”, routinely target villages, schools, and places of worship, seizing both Christians and Muslims and demanding ransoms for their release.
Another mass instance that stunned the country was the kidnapping of over 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in November.
Nigeria is coping with multiple security crises at once, including an Islamist insurgency in the northeast, separatist violence in the southeast, and deadly clashes between farmers and herders in central states. It is more difficult for authorities to respond effectively, according to analysts, because of corruption, poor intelligence sharing, and underfunded local police units.
Additionally, there has been an increase in international attention. Recently, the United States has conducted airstrikes on militant camps; however, Nigerian officials maintain that they are dedicated to safeguarding all residents, irrespective of their religious beliefs, while communities throughout the nation continue to be plagued by violence.
