Nigerian police have made an about-face and admitted dozens of Christian worshippers were kidnapped by gunmen in northern Kaduna state — piling more pressure on the country as it faces international scrutiny over insecurity. The kidnapping of more than 170 people during Sunday services at three churches by gangs known as “bandits” marks the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. After a diplomatic offensive over what US President Donald Trump claimed was the mass killing of Christians in particular, the United States last month launched strikes in Nigeria targeting militants that authorities said were linked to the Islamic State group.
But the one-time strikes have done virtually nothing to rein in the rampant violence in the west African nation, which faces jihadists and bandits across its north as well as farmer-herder conflicts over land and resources. The mass kidnappings in Kaduna Sunday followed another mass abduction — and subsequent release — of hundreds of Catholic schoolchildren in neighbouring Niger state late last year. But Kaduna state authorities had initially dismissed the reports as “totally false”.
A senior Christian clergy member and a village head had told AFP that dozens of people were snatched from churches on Sunday. A security report prepared for the United Nations noted the kidnapping of over 100 people at multiple churches. But it was only late Tuesday that national police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin said an “abduction” had occurred and that the force had launched security operations, “with a clear focus on locating and safely rescuing the victims and restoring calm to the area”. He said remarks made by his colleagues from Kaduna state were “intended to prevent unnecessary panic while facts were being confirmed”.
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