A cross at the Church of Assumption following U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State militants, according to U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. military, in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, on Dec. 26, 2025. (Credit: Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters)
Armed bandits abducted dozens of worshipers from two churches in Nigeria's Kaduna state, police said on Monday, while a senior church leader put the number of those missing at more than 160.
Kaduna state police said gunmen armed with "sophisticated weapons" attacked an ECWA church and a Cherubim and Seraphim church in Kurmin Wali, a forest community in Afogo ward, at about 11:25 a.m. on Sunday. They said officers were still trying to confirm how many people were taken.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Reverend John Hayab, told Reuters by phone that 172 worshipers had been kidnapped, and that nine later escaped, leaving 163 still held.
Armed bandits abducted dozens of worshipers from two churches in Nigeria's Kaduna state, police said on Monday, while a senior church leader put the number of those missing at more than 160.
Kaduna state police said gunmen armed with "sophisticated weapons" attacked an ECWA church and a Cherubim and Seraphim church in Kurmin Wali, a forest community in Afogo ward, at about 11:25 a.m. on Sunday. They said officers were still trying to confirm how many people were taken.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Reverend John Hayab, told Reuters by phone that 172 worshipers had been kidnapped, and that nine later escaped, leaving 163 still held.
