Nigeria: 45 Christians abducted during church service in Kaduna

Forty-five worshippers were kidnapped when jihadists stormed a church in Nigeria’s Kaduna state on Monday, Sahara Reporters said. Monday’s attack took place during a service at the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Kasuwa quarters of Kasuwan Magani Town, Kaduna State, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) told reporters.

In a statement, SOKAPU National President Awemi Maisamari said the terrorists have contacted the families of those abducted and have demanded N200million ($465,000) in ransom. “There is still no breathing space for communities in Southern Kaduna,” Maisamari said.

“Terrorists, jihadists, bandits, and armed herdsmen have continued to plunder and wreck communities in the southern part of the state.”

“They succeeded in carting away more than sixty people from the church and neighboring houses,” Maisamari continued. “However, they were not able to take all of them away because some were very little children, too aged or had health challenges. While retreating with their captors to their camps, they attacked Janwuriya village, a few kilometers from Kasuwan Magani, and abducted two more persons. As of now, 45 people have so far been confirmed abducted.”

However, the terrorists claim to have only 40 people in captivity, leaving the question of where the remaining five worshippers are. “They demanded a ransom of N200 million, (R8.1 million) but negotiation is still ongoing. We do not know the identity or the fate of the five missing persons yet,” Maisamari said, according to Sahara Reporters.

In addition to ranking number in the world last year for Christians murdered by Islamic terrorists, Nigeria ranked number one in the world for Christians kidnapped: over 2 500 Nigerian Christians were abducted in 2021, according to the Open Doors Christian advocacy organisation.

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