Police in Nigeria have now confirmed the kidnapping of a group of worshippers from three churches in a remote part of the northern Kaduna state, after previously denying it.
On Tuesday night, which is over two days after the raid on the Kurmin Wali village, police revealed that an earlier statement denying the attack had been “widely misinterpreted”.
According to the BBC, 177 worshippers had been abducted, but 11 later escaped.
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Police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin did not disclose any numbers but revealed that checks by operational units and intelligence sources done later confirmed the kidnappings.
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According to Hundeyin, security forces had been fully deployed to the area, and search-and-rescue operations and patrols were underway.
He added that the initial statement was “not a denial of the incident but a measured response pending confirmation of details from the field, including the identities and number of those affected”.
An eyewitness stated that the attack unfolded on Sunday at about 10:00 local time.
“Some people tried to run, but they couldn’t because the armed men had surrounded the village,” he said. “They gathered people together and later forced them to march into the bush.”
Locals revealed that the attack affected three churches, of which two are part of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, with the other from the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
Kaduna state police commissioner Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu told journalists on Monday that “we got a report that 300 people were kidnapped in Kurmin Wali and we sent our officers, soldiers and vigilante and at this time there is no evidence to suggest that a kidnap happened.”
He questioned, “anyone to list the names of the kidnapped victims and other particulars.”
The chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area, which includes Kurmin Wali, said security forces sent to the area found no evidence of a kidnapping.
Dauda Madaki said officials visited the church where the alleged abduction was reported, but found no signs of an attack.
“We visited the church where the so-called kidnapping took place. There was no evidence of any attack,” Madaki said. “I also asked the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, and he said there was no such incident.”
A list of alleged victims seen by the BBC on Tuesday contains more than 160 names, though the information has not been independently verified.
Amnesty International criticized Nigerian authorities over what it described as the “desperate denial” of the kidnapping.
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The rights group said authorities must take “immediate and concrete measures to prevent rampant abductions that are gradually becoming the norm in Nigeria.”
