Nigeria’s police have confirmed that worshippers were abducted from three churches in a remote part of northern Kaduna state, reversing an earlier denial that had drawn criticism from residents and rights groups.
The confirmation came more than two days after the attack in Kurmin Wali village. On Tuesday night, police said a previous statement rejecting reports of a kidnapping had been “widely misinterpreted”, insisting it was not intended to dismiss the incident but was issued before details had been fully verified.
Local residents told the BBC that 177 worshippers were taken during the raid, although 11 later managed to escape. Police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin did not confirm the number of victims but said checks by operational units and intelligence sources had verified that an abduction took place. He said security forces had been deployed to the area, with search-and-rescue operations and patrols ongoing.
According to Hundeyin, the earlier statement was meant as a cautious response while police sought confirmation from the field, including the identities and number of those affected.
One eyewitness said the attack happened at about 10:00 local time on Sunday. He said some villagers tried to flee but were unable to escape because armed men had surrounded the area. The attackers reportedly gathered people together and forced them to march into the bush.
Residents said the raid affected three churches, two belonging to the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church and one from the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
On Monday, Kaduna state police commissioner Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu had told journalists there was no evidence of a kidnapping after officers, soldiers and vigilantes were sent to the area. He challenged anyone claiming there had been an abduction to provide names and details of the victims. The chairman of Kajuru local government area, Dauda Madaki, also said that a visit to the church and consultations with the village head had revealed no sign of an attack.
However, a list seen by the BBC on Tuesday contained more than 160 names of people said to have been kidnapped, though this could not be independently verified.
Amnesty International criticised the authorities over what it described as a “desperate denial” of the incident, urging the government to take immediate and concrete steps to prevent abductions that it said were becoming increasingly common across the country.
The kidnapping comes amid a broader wave of insecurity in Nigeria. In November, more than 300 students and teachers were abducted from a Catholic school in neighbouring Niger state before being released in stages. Kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs have become frequent, alongside an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, separatist violence in the south-east, and clashes between herders and farmers in central regions.
Security experts say corruption, weak intelligence sharing and underfunded local policing have undermined efforts to address these challenges. Nigeria’s defence minister resigned last month at the height of the kidnapping crisis, officially citing health reasons.
The United States carried out airstrikes on Christmas Day against camps run by an Islamist militant group in north-western Nigeria. US President Donald Trump later warned of further strikes if Christians continued to be killed in the country. Nigeria’s foreign ministry responded by saying the government remained committed to protecting all citizens, regardless of religion, and would continue to engage constructively with international partners.
Nigeria is home to more than 250 ethnic groups and is broadly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south, with significant religious mixing in the middle. The government maintains that people of all faiths have been victims of attacks across the country.
