Gunmen abducted more than 150 worshippers in simultaneous attacks on three churches in northwest Nigeria on Sunday, a state lawmaker told The Associated Press.
The attack took place in Kurmin Wali, a community in the Kajuru area of Kaduna state, while services and a Mass were underway, the lawmaker said. The churches targeted included the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), another church belonging to the Cherubim and Seraphim denomination, and a Catholic church, according to Usman Danlami Stingo, who represents the area at the state parliament.
Stingo said that as of Monday, “As of yesterday, 177 people were missing, and 11 came back. So we have 168 still missing,” he said, describing the status of those taken from the churches.
The AP report said police in Kaduna state had not commented on the abductions. It also said that no group had taken responsibility for the attacks.
The report described such incidents as common in Nigeria, where armed gangs and religious armed groups operate in remote communities with limited security and government presence. It said the northern region has been hit hardest.
The AP also noted that similar attacks on churches have prompted allegations in the United States about persecution of Christians by U.S. President Donald Trump and some American lawmakers. The report said the U.S. government launched military strikes in Sokoto on Dec. 25, allegedly targeting an Islamic State group in the region.
Nigeria’s government, the AP reported, rejected the characterization of the country’s escalating security crises as a “Christian genocide.”