Human rights lawyer and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has faulted the Kaduna State Police Command’s denial of the reported abduction of worshippers from churches in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.

The activist questioned the motive behind what he described as an attempt by the police to suppress facts.

Odinkalu reacted on Tuesday via his verified X account after the police dismissed reports that dozens of worshippers were kidnapped during Sunday services in parts of Kaduna State.

“The @policeNG alone know whose & what script they are acting out in claiming to deny the #MassAbduction last Sunday of the #Kajuru177,” Odinkalu wrote.

He alleged that the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, may be under pressure to downplay the incident.

“I suspect the CP may fear that if he says truthfully what he saw, his paymasters in Abuja… will come for his job. But #FactsAreStubborn,” he added.

Odinkalu also shared video clips showing overturned chairs and disrupted church interiors, which he said were evidence from places of worship visited by security officials. He maintained that survivors had been spoken to during the police visit to the affected communities.

The identities of the 177 persons kidnapped from ECWA Church and Cherubim and Seraphim Churches 1 and 2 at Kurmin Wali community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday have been revealed.

The list paints a harrowing picture of entire families taken away from their homes and places of worship, leaving the community traumatized and virtually empty of able-bodied residents.

The raid came barely a week after the same community paid N2.6 million ransom to secure the release of 20 residents previously abducted, Vanguard reliably gathered.

While government and security operatives denied the incident, a Police situation report obtained by Vanguard confirmed the attack occurred during church services.

The report stated that information was received at about 5:45pm on Sunday, indicating that the assailants struck around 11:25am, firing sporadically and forcing worshippers to flee into the surrounding forest.

The situation report read: “Message received from DPO Kajuru indicates that on 18/01/2026 at about 1745hrs an information was received that same date at about 1125hrs, unspecified numbers of bandits armed with sophisticated weapons attacked ECWA church and Cherubim Serafim Church 2 at Kurmin Wali in Kajuru lga, The communities are yet to ascertain the number of worshipers kidnapped to unknown destination, the village is situated in a remote forest area, the DPO mobilized other sister security agencies and the military to the scene which cannot be accessed immediately due to bad road, concerted effort in collaboration with all stakeholders has been intensified to rescue the victims and possibly arrest the perpetrators, investigation has commenced.”

As of Tuesday, the village was deserted. Those who escaped had fled to nearby communities to stay with relatives and friends.

Some who sustained injuries during the escape were reportedly still in shock, while poor network coverage and lost phones made it difficult to reach them for comment.

Analysis of the 177 names obtained by Vanguard revealed that entire households were abducted. Families such as the Jonathan household had 12 members kidnapped; the Amos family 13; Markus/Makudi 10; Ishaya and Danisa seven each; Bawa six, Danjuma and Musa five each.

Other families saw four, three, or two members taken away. The oldest victim is 71-year-old Augustina Matthew, while the youngest, Salvation Idris, is a child of six.

Other children include Likita Amos, 6; Jumota Idris, 7; Tessy Amos, 8; Yahaya Joshua, 9; and several 10-year-olds, including Sussana Idris, Synthah Amos, Hezibah and Hezikaiah Jonathan.

The controversy followed earlier claims by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Northern Nigeria that armed men stormed churches in Kajuru on Sunday and abducted worshippers.

According to Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of CAN in the North, the attackers “came in numbers and blocked the entrance of the churches and forced the worshippers out into the bush.”

However, the Kaduna State Police Command, in a joint statement with local government authorities on Monday, dismissed the claims as “mere falsehood being peddled by conflict entrepreneurs who want to cause chaos.”

The chairman of Kajuru Local Government Area, Dauda Madaki, said security operatives were deployed to Kurmin Wali following the reports, but found no evidence of an attack. “I asked the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, and he said that there was no such attack,” Madaki said.

Police also quoted the state commissioner for internal security and home affairs as saying religious leaders who visited the area confirmed that the information circulated was false.

The denial by government officials has drawn sharp criticism from rights groups. Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria (CSW-N) insisted that the abduction occurred and accused security agents of obstructing independent verification.

CSW-N Research and Press Officer Reuben Buhari said: “Thirty minutes after the incident, as the team was about to enter Kurmin Wali, CSW-N encountered a military convoy, including the chairman of Kajuru Local Government, which was leaving the community.

“They later refused to allow CSW-N team entry, despite repeated pleas and after the team showed full identification.

“The military officer who stopped the CSW-N said there was a standing order not to allow us in. Consequently, our team turned and was escorted to the main road, back to Kaduna.”

CSW-N added that the attackers arrived on motorcycles and on foot, split into three groups, and simultaneously targeted the churches.

“Elderly women and young children were later released, while 11 reportedly escaped, leaving 167 in captivity at the time of the organisation’s engagement with community sources,” the group stated.

The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rev. Dr. Joseph Hayab, accused security agents of enabling the bandits to escape with large number of victims.

He said: “If the security agents had gone after the bandits, they would have prevented them from taking the victims to where they are now hiding. Instead, the security agents only helped the bandits move the victims to a place where they could conceal them and make their demands.

“Had they pursued the attackers immediately, instead of arguing over whether anyone had, indeed, been kidnapped, they would have chased them away, whether they were right or wrong.”

US lawmaker Rep. Riley Moore described the abduction as “horrific news” and urged the Nigerian government to ensure swift and safe return of the victims.

He tweeted: “Our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing an existential threat at the hands of the Fulani militants. More must be done to protect them, and I urge the Nigerian government to ensure the swift and safe return of all those who were captured.”

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi also raised alarm over the incident, describing it as “unacceptable” and highlighting the recurring pattern of mass abductions across Nigeria.

He said: “I have just been informed that yet again, at the weekend, about 172 worshippers were abducted from churches in Kaduna. This is another unfortunate consequence of a nation where insecurity has been allowed to grow unchecked and unchallenged.

“Even with official denials, we must ask ourselves hard questions, can we continue waking up to news of mass abductions, disputed figures, and denials while citizens live in fear?”

Obi stressed that authorities must act swiftly to rescue the victims and prevent further occurrences, adding that “Nigeria deserves a government that treats human life as sacred. The time to stop this insecurity is now.”

Prior to the mass abduction, bandits had earlier on Sunday morning swooped on Kujama community in Southern Kaduna and took away a nursing mother with her three-month-old baby.

However, they inexplicably left behind the toddler and disappeared with the mother, despite pleas by frightened and grieving neighbours for the bandits to spare the woman because of her baby.

A man in Kujama, whose sister was also taken away with her nine-year-old son, told Vanguard in Abuja on Tuesday that the kidnappers have demanded the immediate payment of N50 million as a condition to release the three persons they took away that morning.

The man, who gave his name as Anthony Yisa, told Vanguard that the bandits warned that the family of the nursing mother must pay them N50 million as a condition to free her to reunite with her suckling infant or be killed with immediate effect.

Yisa also told the correspondent that the bandits were asking for N100 million ransom for another woman, whose name was given as Alice Bitrus, and her son, David, who they abducted in the Sunday dawn raid in Kujama, a stone’s throw from Kajuru, all in Kaduna State.

Apart from abducting the two mothers and a son, the kidnappers also inflicted serious injuries on the husbands of the women who tried to prevent them from making away with their spouses.

The witness told Vanguard that the knife injuries inflicted on the two men were severe and that none of them might be able to use his hands again due to deep cuts inflicted on them by the attackers.

It was learned that while the kidnappers were asking the relatives of the victims in their custody to urgently make the N150 million ransom payment to them, they also warned them not to report their discussions with them (bandits) to any law enforcement agency or risk being slaughtered.

“We are afraid for the lives of our family members,” Yisa said yesterday amid sobs, wondering where they would get N150 million to pay the kidnappers and free their loved ones.

When contacted on phone, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Kaduna police command, Mr Mansur Hassan, said he would investigate and revert.

The names of the 177 kidnapped worshippers include families with multiple members abducted together, highlighting the devastating impact on entire households. Among them are children as young as six years old and elderly victims up to 71 years old.

[The complete list of 177 names was provided in the original report]

The mass abduction represents one of the largest single incidents of kidnapping from places of worship in recent Nigerian history, raising serious questions about security preparedness and the protection of vulnerable communities in rural areas.

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