Armed bandits have kidnapped more than 150 Christians in simultaneous attacks on a number of churches in Nigeria.
The attack occurred on Sunday in Kurmin Wali, a community in the Kajuru area of northern Nigeria, while church services were under way.
Different sources gave different tallies of how many people were taken, but initial reporting suggests there were up to 177 abductees.
Usman Danlami Stingo, who represents the area in the state parliament, said: “As of yesterday, 177 people were missing, and 11 came back. So we have 168 still missing.”
Reverend John Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said 172 worshippers were kidnapped, but nine later escaped, leaving 163 still held.
Police confirmed dozens of people had been abducted by gunmen armed with “sophisticated weapons”, but said they were still confirming how many.
A police spokesperson said the area was remote and hard to reach due to bad roads, so reliable information was difficult to obtain.
Troops and other security agencies had been deployed in a bid to track the abductors and rescue the captives, they added.
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It’s believed that a Catholic church and two churches from the Cherubim and Seraphim denomination were targeted.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the kidnapping.
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Mass kidnappings are increasingly common in Nigeria, with armed gangs targeting remote communities where the security and government presence is limited.
The attacks on churches have sparked claims of religious persecution by Donald Trump and others, although the Nigerian government says the security crisis is not a “Christian genocide.”
Nonetheless, on Christmas Day, US strikes rained down near Sokoto – a Muslim-majority city in the north of the country – allegedly targeting an Islamic State group in what Trump called a “Christmas present”.
