LAGOS: The Nigerian military said on Sunday it had rescued 31 worshippers seized from Easter celebrations in northwestern Kaduna state, though at least five others were killed, as the country&#39;s security is increasingly under international scrutiny. The kidnapping at a village located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital, Abuja, occurred despite the police chief ordering a &quot;massive security deployment&quot; including at places of worship during the Easter festival. &quot;Through a swift response, (troops) have successfully foiled a terrorist attack leading to the rescue of 31 civilians abducted during an Easter church service&quot; in the village of Ariko, the military said in a statement. The troops engaged the attackers in a &quot;firefight,&quot; forcing the &quot;terrorists to abandon 31 hostages,&quot; the military said in a statement. It said five victims had been killed by the attackers. The military listed one church, but local media reported that gunmen raided a Catholic and an evangelical church, killing at least eight people and abducting several others. Kaduna is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have for years been terrorised by criminal gangs called bandits that carry out deadly raids on communities and kidnap for ransom. Despite the bandits being motivated by financial gains, they are increasingly collaborating with jihadists from the northeast. It was unclear if the military&#39;s use of &quot;terrorists&quot; was referring to bandits. While the army has been beefing up its deployment to the region to combat the groups, Nigeria has continued to see a rise in violence. That has drawn the attention of US President Donald Trump, who has alleged there is a &quot;genocide&quot; of Christians in Nigeria. In January, bandits rounded up more than 170 worshippers from three churches during mass in Kaduna. Authorities said 80 escaped, and the rest were released following negotiations after three weeks in custody.

Africa

The kidnapping at a village located around 100 kilometers north of the capital, Abuja, occurred despite the police chief ordering a "massive security deployment" including at places of worship during the Easter festival.



Nigerian military rescues 31 kidnapped Easter worshippers

KANO: Armed gangs kidnapped at least 163 Christian worshippers after storming two churches in Nigeria&#39;s northern Kaduna State on Sunday, a member of the clergy told AFP. Gangs &mdash; known in Nigeria as &quot;bandits&quot; &mdash; frequently <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nigerian-gunmen-free-kidnapped-muslim-religious-travellers" style="color:#0073e6;">carry out</a>&nbsp;mass kidnappings for <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/abductors-free-12-young-girls-kidnapped-in-nigeria" style="color:#0073e6;">ransom</a> and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central parts of Africa&#39;s most populous country. Sunday&#39;s attacks are the latest in a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/100-kidnapped-nigerian-schoolchildren-released-report" style="color:#0073e6;">wave of kidnappings</a> targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. &quot;The attackers came in numbers and blocked the entrance of the churches and forced the worshippers out into the bush,&quot; Reverend Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria for the country&#39;s north, said on Monday. &quot;The actual number they took was 172, but nine escaped, so 163 are with them,&quot; added Hayab. Ishaku Dan&#39;azumi, a traditional chief of Kurmin Wali, said 166 people were seized from three churches in the village during Sunday service. A security report prepared for the United Nations said &quot;armed bandits&quot; attacked multiple churches in the area on Sunday, abducting &quot;over 100 worshippers.&quot; Kaduna state police did not confirm the attack. But its chief told reporters after in Kaduna city that officers responded and went to the &quot;alleged scene of crime&quot; on Sunday. &quot;Till now there is no information about any attack or any kidnapping,&quot; police commissioner Muhammad Rabiu said in remarks broadcast on a local tv channel. State commissioner for internal security Sule Shauibu dismissed the &quot;narrative&quot; about the kidnapping as &quot;totally false, we do not have any evidence of such.&quot; Local chief Wali told AFP that &quot;it is only politicians that are denying the kidnapping of our people.&quot; &quot;They took away 177 people from three churches but 11 managed to escape. We now have 166 people in the hands of the kidnappers,&quot; he said. He said his village has lived under threat from gunmen &quot;who kidnap our people. This has affected our farming activities as we grow less food than we used to. &quot;We have never complained to the authorities over kidnappings in our area, as we have been the ones contributing to pay for the freedom of those kidnapped. Sometimes up to 20 are abducted, and we have never complained; we have been dealing with the problem on our own.&quot; &quot;This time we complained to the authorities because the number of those kidnapped is beyond our capacity to deal with,&quot; he said. Roughly evenly split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim-majority north, Nigeria is home to myriad conflicts, which experts say kill both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction. In November, armed gangs seized more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in Niger state, with 50 escaping and the rest being released in two batches weeks later. US President Donald Trump has latched onto the insecurity in Nigeria, focusing on the killing of Christians and putting Abuja under diplomatic pressure. In late December, the United States launched strikes on what it and the Nigerian government said were militants linked to the Islamic State group in the northwestern Sokoto state. Nigeria said it approved the strikes. More attacks &#39;likely&#39;&nbsp;Kaduna is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have for years been terrorized by criminal gangs who raid villages, abduct residents and burn homes after looting them. Kajuru district is a hotspot for bandit attacks in Kaduna State, which has witnessed clashes between Christian farmers and Fulani Muslim herders. The violence centers around competition for land and dwindling resources, although on the surface it falls along ethnic and religious lines. Nigeria&#39;s kidnappings are predominantly for ransom and the crisis has &quot;consolidated into a structured, profit-seeking industry&quot; that raised some $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a recent report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy.

Gangs frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central parts of Africa's most populous country; Sunday's attacks are the latest in a wave of kidnappings targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

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Nigerian military rescues 31 kidnapped Easter worshippers

Gunmen kidnap 163 worshippers from two Nigerian churches: clergy