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They had gathered as always to worship together on Sunday at the three ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) churches in the Kurmin Wali community in northern Nigeria's Kaduna State. Their region, a Christian-majority area, has been plagued with insecurity and even attacks. Still, they gathered, knowing that their faith is strengthened when they fellowship together.
But that Sunday, January 18, the lives of worshipers at the churches named Cherubim and Seraphim 1 and 2 would be forever changed. At around 9:30 am, armed men on motorcycles and on foot stormed the three churches, kidnapping a total of 177 worshipers.
"The insecurity that northern Nigerians face should be addressed with urgency and transparency."
Jo Newhouse*, Open Doors' spokesperson for sub-Saharan Africa.
Yunana Adauji, a secretary of ECWA churches, told Open Doors' local contact that "the terrorists came in their numbers with guns, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' ["Allah is great"] and gathered worshippers together in one place, threatening to shoot anyone who tried to escape."
While some reports note that elderly women and young children were released, Adauji reported that the victims were forced into the bush, including children, women and men, as well as those who were sick.
"We don't know the condition of our people who were kidnapped; we need your prayers and help to see an end to these attacks," he says. Adauji was one of several who were kidnapped but managed to escape.
The attacks have left many traumatized and too scared to sleep in their houses. Instead, they have resorted to sleeping in the bush for safety. One of these is a nursing mother whose husband and nine children are among the kidnapped victims. For her and others, attacks are so prevalent, there's a common course of action: "We always sleep in the bush anytime the attacks on our community start," she says. "Right now, my baby is sick because of the cold and mosquitoes. Please pray for us."
Our contact tells us the mother is traumatized and finds it difficult to eat, as she worries about the whereabouts and safety of her family.
Another worshiper, MaiGirma Shekarau, also escaped from the group with his 2-year-old baby, but his family remains in captivity. "After the terrorists took us from the church, we trekked a long distance without food and water," he says. "Those who couldn't walk fast were flogged and brutalized by the terrorists. I have bad injuries on my head and [elsewhere], with blood still gushing out. They forced us to keep moving."
While these most recent kidnappings have drawn widespread media attention, they are not the first in the area. On January 11, 2026—just a week before the three churches were targeted— 21 people were kidnapped from the community and were freed after paying about 7 million Naira (about $5,000 USD).
Sources close to the community share that those taken on January 18 were also kidnapped for ransom.
Over the last few years, the same area has seen other kidnappings, with the insecurity leading to displacement. Our local contact shares that several communities around Kurmin Wali have abandoned their homes and moved to presumably safer areas.
And yet the local government denies that the attack and kidnapping even happened—despite the reports and the community's documentation of the names of the Christians who were kidnapped and shared with a journalist.
These attacks underscore the violence and insecurity that both Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria live under each day.
"The insecurity that northern Nigerians face should be addressed with urgency and transparency," says Jo Newhouse*, spokesperson for the work of Open Doors in sub-Saharan Africa. "It is shocking that yet another mass abduction has taken place despite the government's assurance of protection.
Newhouse notes that the insecurity and attacks continue to cripple the church and its purpose.
"Christian communities in southern Kaduna State already face heightened vulnerability as a result of state neglect," she says. "Their circumstances are now exacerbated through repeated targeting. While it is not always clear who the perpetrators are or what their exact motives are, the result is the Christians' impoverishment, fear, and displacement. And ultimately, these hamper the church's ability to fulfil the Great Commission.
"We call on the Kaduna government to do everything in its power to rescue these 177 people and to bring perpetrators to book."
Pray with us and sign the Arise Africa petition, joining your voice with hundreds of thousands of others, speaking out for Christians in sub-Saharan Africa!
"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40).
*Name changed for security reasons.
