Outrage is widespread in parts of Southern Kaduna following the abduction of no fewer than 166 worshippers during church services in Kurmin Wali village, Afogo Ward of Kajuru Local Government Area.
Residents and natives of the area have described the incident in Adara community as one of the most brazen mass kidnappings in recent times.
The attack occurred at about 10am on Sunday, January 18, 2026, when armed men stormed two congregations of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Churches, during worship, and whisked worshippers to unknown destination (s).
Worshippers of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), who were returning home after service, were also reportedly seized by the assailants.
Kajuru Local Government Area is predominantly inhabited by the indigenous Adara people, who are largely Christians.
In a strongly worded statement signed by the President of the Adara Development Association (ADA), Chief Sebastine A. Barde, the community accused the police and the Chairman of Kajuru Local Government, Dauda Madaki, of deliberately suppressing the truth and failing in their constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property.
According to the ADA, a total of 177 persons were abducted during the coordinated attacks, but 11 of the abductees later escaped, leaving 166 victims still in captivity.
The association said distress calls were promptly made to security agencies, traditional rulers, religious leaders and political authorities, but no immediate rescue operation was mounted.
Tension heightened on Monday, January 19, when the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, and the Council Chairman visited Kurmin Wali, went back to Government House, Kaduna and addressed the press denying that the incident ever occured.
Community leaders alleged that despite receiving eyewitness accounts and interacting with survivors and relatives of the victims, the officials publicly denied that any kidnapping had taken place, describing the reports as “rumours” allegedly spread by “conflict entrepreneurs.”
“To deny the abduction of 166 innocent worshippers after hearing firsthand accounts from survivors and affected families amounts to a grave moral failure,” the statement stressed.
It added that such denial represented “a disturbing return to the era of insecurity and official insensitivity experienced under the previous Kaduna State administration.”
The association expressed particular disappointment with the Council Chairman, an indigene of Afogo Ward, accusing him of aligning with what it described as “an official cover-up rather than standing with his people in their moment of distress”.
Responding to the demand by the Police Commissioner and the Council Chairman for proof, the ADA said it had submitted a detailed list of the abducted persons, stressing that survivors and family members were available to provide further verification.
The group challenged the officials to present credible evidence to support their claim that no abduction occurred, and demanded a public apology to the Adara people.
While noting that the actions of the officials appeared to contradict the public posture of Governor Uba Sani on security and inclusiveness, the association called on the governor to show moral leadership by distancing his administration from what it termed “reckless denial” and ensuring urgent action to rescue the victims.
The ADA also appealed to the federal government, the Kaduna State government and the international community, to intervene urgently to secure the release of the abducted worshippers and halt what it described as “systematic brutality, displacement and dispossession of the Adara people of their ancestral lands.”
