By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Fresh details have emerged over the recent mass abduction of church worshippers in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, with reports that women, children, and infants as young as five months old were among those kidnapped.
The revelations were made by Comrade Daniel Ejembi, activist and Founder of the Eagle Brain Human Rights Organization, following a fact-finding mission to the community on January 20, 2026. According to Ejembi, armed attackers stormed church services on Sunday, January 18, 2026, blocked exit routes and forcibly herded worshippers into nearby bushes before disappearing into the surrounding forest.
He stated that victims included women, children and infants, describing the attack as a stark example of the indiscriminate brutality that has become common in banditry-prone areas of the country. Ejembi disclosed that church leaders and community figures estimate that between 163 and 166 persons remain in captivity after accounting for escapees, noting that the figures align with reports from multiple credible sources despite initial police statements suggesting the incident was unconfirmed or exaggerated.
He further revealed that the January 18 attack followed an earlier abduction in the same community. According to him, bandits kidnapped 25 villagers from Kurmin Wali on January 11, 2026. He said the community raised ₦2.5 million through personal savings, loans and collective contributions to secure the victims’ release, a development that plunged already impoverished families into deeper financial hardship.
Quoting the Village Head, Ishaku Danazumi, Ejembi said the repeated abductions underscore serious lapses in security provisioning. Danazumi allegedly told him that calls placed to a nearby Army checkpoint during the January 11 incident were ignored. “They bluntly refused to come to our aid,” the village head reportedly said, expressing frustration and a sense of betrayal.
Ejembi also criticised the response of security authorities, alleging that after an earlier incident, the Commissioner of Police visited the area but left without engaging the village head or key witnesses. According to him, the commissioner observed briefly and departed without asking questions or conducting a detailed inquiry, a situation he said has left victims feeling abandoned while emboldening perpetrators.
Beyond the immediate security crisis, Ejembi described Kurmin Wali as a community suffering from chronic government neglect. He said the village has no electricity, no primary or secondary school and no primary healthcare facility, forcing residents to travel long distances for education and medical attention. He added that residents repeatedly told his team that government presence is felt only during election periods, when politicians arrive with promises and small inducements before disappearing for years.
He warned that dismissing community accounts as fear-mongering without thorough and transparent investigation risks discrediting genuine victims, delaying rescue efforts and eroding public trust at a critical time. While acknowledging that security agencies often release conservative early figures in mass kidnapping cases, Ejembi stressed that eyewitness accounts and testimonies from community leaders point to real and ongoing suffering.
Ejembi called for the immediate deployment of sustained security forces to Kurmin Wali and surrounding communities, a full independent investigation into the January 18 abductions, including alleged non-response by security personnel, and long-term investment in infrastructure and social services to reduce vulnerability.
According to his findings, armed gunmen riding motorcycles and wielding sophisticated weapons attacked three churches simultaneously during the January 18 raid: the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Haske Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, and Albarka Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church. Community leaders said 177 worshippers were initially abducted, with 11 persons, including the village head, managing to escape later that evening.
Ejembi described Kurmin Wali’s ordeal as a microcosm of the wider insecurity challenges confronting Nigeria’s North-West and North-Central regions, where banditry, ransom-driven criminality and systemic marginalisation of rural communities continue to fuel violence.
Security agencies are yet to issue a detailed response to the allegations.
