By chatnewstv.com
KADUNA, Nigeria (chatnewst.com) — Afiniki Moses thought her ordeal was over when armed abductors released her on Jan. 15 after her family paid a ransom in a village in northern Kaduna state. She was wrong.
The armed gang returned to Kurmin Wali village on Sunday and seized 177 people during simultaneous morning services at three churches, including her husband and two children. While her children later escaped, her husband is among the 166 people that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says are still missing.
“They kidnapped a large number of people in the community and my husband happened to be among them. As you can see me now, I am not feeling fine,” Moses said.
The attack on the churches is the latest in a series of mass abductions in the West African country, adding to mounting pressure on the administration of President Bola Tinubu. The Nigerian government is under increasing scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has cited the “mass slaughter” of Christians as the justification for a U.S. airstrike launched on Christmas Day.
The Nigerian government has denied there is any systematic persecution of Christians, maintaining that it is working to tackle Islamists and other violent groups that target both Muslim and Christian civilians, often for ransom.
To bolster its diplomatic standing, the government has hired a Washington-based consulting firm to help communicate its efforts to protect religious freedom. However, the scale of Sunday’s raid has reignited domestic and international criticism.
Inside the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), one of the targeted sites, signs of the struggle remained visible Monday. Plastic chairs lay overturned on the floor. A Bible sat alone on a seat near musical instruments that had been used in the service before the gunmen arrived.
Idris Madami said he was outside the Albarika Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church nearby when the gunmen arrived on motorcycles. He managed to escape but said about 20 of his family members were taken.
“I have two wives and three children among those kidnapped,” Madami said.
Kidnappings have spread over the years across remote parts of northern Nigeria. They are typically carried out by “bandits”—armed gangs who ride into villages in large numbers to seize villagers for financial gain.
While Kaduna state police initially downplayed the reports, they confirmed Tuesday that coordinated security operations are underway to locate the victims.
