Christian Slain and Others Kidnapped in Separate Areas of Nigeria
Nineteen were abducted in Kaduna State, and 25 were taken off the bus in Ondo State.
The assailants on Saturday invaded Kaduna state’s predominantly Christian Angwan Waku village in the Kufana area Kajuru County at midnight, an area resident said.
Area resident Tanimu Makaddas, an assistant to the Kufana area leader, identified the slain villager as Kukah Yari.
Makkaddas identified those kidnapped as Yakubu Abba, Basiru Maiwada, Keziya Silas, Peace Silas, Lami Istifanus, Habila Musa, Bege Lazarus, Joshua Abuki, Juliana Habila, Stella Yohanna, Genesis Ezikiel, Deborah Ezikiel, Salomi Dutse, Rifkatu Zephaniah, Tamar Lazarus, Ejah Habila, Rejoice Ezikeil, Catharine Silas and Gundu Rubu.
The southern part of Kaduna state, inhabited mainly by Christians, has been under constant attacks by Fulani herders and terrorists for over a decade.
Ondo Kidnapping
In southwest Nigeria’s Ondo state, 17 of 25 church members kidnapped on Friday (Sept. 29) remain in captivity after eight escaped their captors, police said.
The members of a Pentecostal church in the Oke Igan area of the city of Akure, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), were on their way to Ifon, Ose County, for a funeral when the terrorists intercepted their bus, said church member Sunday Emmanuel.
Church leaders confirmed the escape of eight members, saying the terrorists had demanded 50 million naira (US$64,770) to release those remaining in captivity. Pastor Benjamin Akanmu, regional superintendent of CAC in Odubanjo, Ondo State, said the church choir was en route to Ifon for a Christian wake for the late father of the church organist.
“At about 4 p.m. on Friday, someone called me to say that a bus belonging to the church was seen abandoned by the roadside around Elegbeka, and nobody was inside,” Pastor Akanmu said. “The caller said he suspected the passengers had been kidnapped, so we contacted our members and security agencies. One of those in captivity called to inform me that their abductors are demanding the sum of 50 million naira as ransom. One of the abductors also took the phone from him and said, We must immediately provide the 50 million naira if we love our members.”
Adetunji Adeleye, commander of Amotekun, a paramilitary security group in Ondo state, issued a statement on Saturday (Sept. 30) saying the captives had been herded into the thick forest near Ifon.
“Eight of the kidnapped Christians, including a nurse, have been rescued after they escaped from the kidnappers’ den,” Adeleye said, adding that personnel from the police, army, and other security agencies were searching for the captive Christians.
Police in Ondo state on Saturday (Sept. 30) issued a statement. Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, superintendent of police, said that the church members on the bus had been accosted by “five gunmen who shot sporadically and forcefully took them into the bush.”
He said the church members who escaped were seven women and one man.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
