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 traumatised 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 yesterday, 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.
