Nigeria’s national police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, claimed an “abduction” had actually occurred on Sunday and that security operations had been launched with a “clear focus on locating and safely rescuing the victims and restoring calm to the area.”
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Hundeyin claimed that the earlier denials made no mention of the fact that the facts were still being verified. How many people were abducted, according to the police statement.
Usman Danlami Stingo, a state lawmaker from Kaduna State, quoted a number of missing people as saying 168 in an interview with The Associated Press.
Reverend John Hayab, the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the country’s northern region, confirmed to the Reuters news agency on Monday that at least 172 worshippers had been abducted and that nine others later made off, leaving 163 people still missing.
The latest in a string of widespread kidnappings in Nigeria that target both Christians and Muslims is on Sunday.
In the northern and central regions of Nigeria’s most populous nation, gangs, known as “bandits,” frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages.
According to Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, who was reporting from Kurmin Wali, Kaduna State, gunmen stormed the village on Sunday as people gathered to pray in three churches and kidnapped a quarter of the village’s residents.
The community received a demand two days after the attack, according to Idris.
“The bandits want the return of ten abandoned motorcycles.” That is currently required for the captors’ release. Residents of Kurmin Wali claim they are unaware of where the bikes are and that many of them have been robbed, making it difficult for them to feed themselves.
More than 300 Catholic students and teachers were sequestered by armed gangs in the Niger State in November, with the majority of the students fleeing and the rest being released in batches weeks later.
Nigeria’s conflict areas are roughly evenly divided between a predominantly Christian south and a Muslim-majority north, according to experts, which kill both Christians and Muslims frequently without distinction.
However, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has focused on the security situation in Nigeria and put pressure on Abuja by putting pressure on the country’s leaders.
The US launched strikes in northwestern Sokoto State in late December against what it and the Nigerian government claimed were armed organizations.
Source: Aljazeera
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