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Kurmin Wali community in southern Kaduna has been thrown into panic following the mass abduction of 177 Christian worshippers, the second attack in a week.
On Sunday, gunmen attacked three churches in the community and whisked away more than 100 worshippers.
However, on Monday, the Kaduna State Government, police command and Chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area dismissed the report as falsehood after Chairman, Northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Joseph Hayab, confirmed the incident to journalists in Kaduna.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, however, confirmed the abductions late Tuesday on X, saying earlier comments by the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State, CP Muhammad Rabiu, were “were not denials of the incident but a measured response pending confirmation of details from the field, including the identities and number of those affected.”
On Wednesday, The PUNCH findings showed that Kurmin Wali residents had abandoned their homes, while farms remained untended, with schools shut indefinitely.
Linus Abu, a villager, told The PUNCH that the community had barely recovered from an earlier attack on January 11, when suspected armed Fulani militia kidnapped several residents.
“We paid N23m as ransom before those kidnapped on January 11 were released,” Abu said. “The terrorists called us on the phone and gave instructions. Some of our people had to carry the money in sacks and take it to them inside the bush.”
According to reports, 11 of the 177 abducted villagers escaped but unlike the earlier attack, the abductors have not formally demanded ransom for the 166 victims – who include women and children – still in captivity from the January 18 attack.
The PUNCH learnt the bandits demanded the return of 17 motorcycles they allegedly lost during recent military operations as a condition for the release of the victims.
“They said each bike is worth N1.7m, and we must pay for all of them before they will demand the actual ransom for the hostages,” Abu said.
It means the villagers would be forced to pay about N28.9m for the motorcycles alone, separate from the ransom for the captives.
The village head of Kurmin Wali, Ishaku Dan’azumi, during a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, said the bandits contacted a negotiator on behalf of the Kurmin Wali community and insisted that the missing motorcycles must be returned before the captives could regain their freedom.
According to Dan’azumi, the armed men accused members of the Kurmin Wali community of stealing the motorcycles and tampering with others by removing carburettors and spark plugs.
They called the negotiator on telephone and said that 17 of their motorcycles disappeared. They insisted that all the motorcycles must be returned before they will release our people,” the village head said.
He added that the bandits had not made any monetary ransom demand so far.
“Apart from the issue of the motorcycles and replacement of some parts, they have not asked for money,” he stated.
Dan’azumi further revealed that the mass abduction was linked to the ongoing military offensive against bandit camps in parts of Kajuru Local Government Area.
Already, fear has paralysed the entire community as most villagers fled their homes to neigbouring villages.
“There is no going to school, no going to farm. Most of us have ran away. We cannot stay here anymore,” Hasan Emman, a farmer, told The PUNCH on Wednesday.
“Right now, everyone is unsettled. We don’t even know where to start. How can we negotiate (with the abductors) when we are all scattered and afraid?”
The usually bustling village market was deserted during The PUNCH’s visit on Wednesday. Several shops were locked, and the few residents on the streets appeared anxious and unwilling to speak.
With no clear timeline for ransom negotiations, the fate of the abducted worshippers remains uncertain.
Family members voiced frustrations over what they described as the government’s denial of the incident and lack of security intervention.
“Our people are suffering in the forest, and the government is saying nothing happened,” one distraught resident said. “Who will help us?”
Church officials and survivors told The PUNCH that the coordinated attacks occurred at about 9am on Sunday, January 18, 2026, when armed men, wielding AK-47 rifles, simultaneously invaded multiple churches in the community.
The attackers, witnesses said, moved with precision, warning worshippers not to flee as they gathered people from different churches.
The Secretary of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Kurmin Wali, Yunana Dauji, said the assailants surrounded two branches of the church during worship and threatened anyone who attempted to escape.
