Over 150 worshippers were kidnapped during Sunday services in three churches in Kaduna, Nigeria, amid rising insecurity and religious tensions.
Newsroom (20/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) More than 150 people were abducted during Sunday services in a wave of coordinated assaults on three churches in northwest Nigeria, a local lawmaker said Monday. The attacks, which unfolded in the Kurmin Wali community of Kajuru area in Kaduna state, targeted congregants gathered for worship in three separate buildings — the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), a Cherubim and Seraphim congregation, and a Catholic church.
According to Usman Danlami Stingo, the state parliament representative for Kajuru, the scale and precision of the assaults stunned residents and local authorities. “As of yesterday, 177 people were missing, and 11 came back. So we have 168 still missing,” Stingo told The Associated Press. He added that the attackers struck while services and a Mass were underway, leading to widespread panic and confusion among worshippers.
Police officials in Kaduna state have yet to release a statement about the incident. No group has claimed responsibility, though such incidents have become frequent in Nigeria’s northwestern and central regions, where criminal gangs and extremist organizations operate largely unchecked. These groups regularly target villages, churches, and mosques, often abducting large numbers of people for ransom while exploiting the absence of strong security and government oversight.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, continues to battle escalating insecurity that spans multiple fronts — insurgent violence in the northeast, separatist unrest in the southeast, and rampant kidnappings in the north. The northern region, however, has borne the brunt of such attacks, with both civilians and faith groups facing near-daily threats.
The frequency of assaults on Christian communities has drawn international scrutiny. Similar incidents in recent years have prompted accusations by former U.S. President Donald Trump and some American lawmakers that Nigerian Christians face systemic persecution. On December 25, the United States reportedly launched military strikes in Sokoto, targeting what officials described as Islamic State affiliates operating in the country’s north.
Nigeria’s federal government has consistently rejected claims that the violence constitutes a campaign of religious persecution or “Christian genocide.” Instead, officials have characterized the crisis as a complex security challenge driven by criminality, ethnic tensions, and economic desperation.
For now, the residents of Kurmin Wali and the families of the abducted wait anxiously for word on their loved ones, as large swaths of rural Kaduna remain beyond the effective reach of the state’s overstretched security forces.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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