Police Backtrack, Confirm Abduction Of Over 170 Worshippers In Church Attacks

AFTER initially denying reports of attacks on churches and kidnapping of over 170 worshippers by bandits, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has finally backtracked and confirmed that a group of worshippers was kidnapped from three churches in communities in Kaduna State.
On Tuesday, January 20, the Police debunked reports of bandits attacks on Kurmin Wali villages two days earlier, describing them as “widely misinterpreted.”
Residents said 177 worshippers were abducted, but that 11 later escaped when the bandits attacked two churches of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church and one of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
However, NPF spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, said subsequent checks by operational units and intelligence sources had confirmed the abduction, adding that security forces had been fully deployed to the area and that search-and-rescue operations and patrols were under way.
He stated that the earlier statement was “not a denial of the incident, but a measured response pending confirmation of details from the field, including the identities and number of those affected”.
According to him: “Some people tried to run, but they couldn’t, because the armed men had surrounded the village.
“They gathered people together and later forced them to march into the bush.”
A list of those kidnapped include over 160 names.
Amnesty International (AI) has criticised government officials over “the desperate denial” of the kidnapping.
AI stated: “Authorities must also take immediate and concrete measures to prevent rampant abductions that are gradually becoming the norm in Nigeria.”
In a joint statement with Chairman of Kajuru local government area, which includes Kurmin Wali, Dauda Madaki, on Monday, Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, had described the reports as “mere falsehood being peddled by conflict entrepreneurs who want to cause chaos.”
Rabiu challenged “anyone to list the names of the kidnapped victims and other particulars.”
On his part, Madaki said security forces had been sent to the area, but found no sign of a kidnapping, adding: ”We visited the church where the so-called kidnap took place, there was no evidence of the attack.
“I asked the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, and he said that there was no such attack.”
Rabiu visited the scene of the abduction, was told by one of the survivors, who recounted: “We were in the church when we heard noise from outside.
“I stepped out of the church and I saw four armed men standing outside. I picked my little daughter and wanted to run, but one of the men said if I run he will shoot me. So, I stopped.
“They then said we should go, they removed the other people from the church. When we got to the other church, we noticed they have also removed all the members. Together, they asked all of us to go with them.
“We began to journey into the bush with them. We got to a village and they started beating us without any question. After beating us, they asked us to continue the journey into the bush.
“When we got to another village in the bush, we saw a lot of people there, some of them not members of our community.
“That was where I escaped because of the crowd. I escaped through the bushes until I got back to our community….”
Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the northern region, Joseph John Hayab, while confirming the abductions, described the incident as deeply troubling, adding: “I don’t like talking about the figures, but what I got from the area is 172 were said to have been abducted and nine managed to escape, with the remaining 163 people still with the abductors.
“It’s a very tough and sad thing, but we will not give up.
“Whatever the reason, we are not going to give up. We want to work with the security agencies and the government to ensure that these people return safely.
“We know the efforts that have been put in place by security and the government to ensure that there’s restoration of peace, so we cannot be accusing people. If they (bandits) are doing it to provoke anger, they will be surprised.
“We’ll get our people back, just as others have been coming back these days. These people will come back.”