ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen kidnapped more than 150 worshipers in simultaneous attacks on three different churches in northwest Nigeria, a state lawmaker told The Associated Press on Monday.
The attack occurred on Sunday in Kurmin Wali, a community in the Kajuru area of Kaduna State, during the ongoing services and mass at the Evangelical Victory Church (ECWA), another church belonging to the Cherubim and Seraphim sect and a Catholic church, according to Usman Danlami Stingo, a member of the state House of Assembly who represents the area.
“As of yesterday, 177 people are missing and 11 are back. So we still have 168 people missing,” he said.
Kaduna State Police have yet to comment.
No group takes responsibility. Such attacks are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where multiple gangs and religious armed groups attack remote communities where security and government presence are limited.
The northern part of the country has been hardest hit.
Similar attacks on churches have prompted accusations of persecution of Christians from US President Donald Trump and some US lawmakers. On December 25, the US government launched a military strike in Sokoto, allegedly targeting an Islamic State group in the area.
Nigeria’s government refuses to characterize the country’s escalating security crisis as “Christian genocide.”
