Nigerian churches still under attack from bandits

Kamogelo Olaitan

Three people were killed and two churches attacked in the rural Kajuru area, Kaduna state in Nigeria on Sunday.

Only two weeks ago, more than 50 worshippers were killed at a Catholic church in Owo in Ondo state in the West African nation.

According to local media reports, the Sunday attack targeted four villages where an unspecified number of residents were also kidnapped from their homes.

Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna state Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, said in a statement that the bandits stormed the villages on motorcycles.

“They started from Ungwan Fada, and moved to Ungwan Turawa, before Ungwan Makama and then Rubu where the two churches are situated,” Aruwan said.

He said that the three killed were identified as Peter Madaki, Elisha Ezekiel and Ali Zamani, a youth leader in the Rubu area.

Aruwan also confirmed that two people sustained injuries following the attacks and an unknown number of residents were kidnapped.

“The suspected bandits looted shops and carted away some valuables from the villages,” he added.

Eyewitness Usman Danladi told local media that worshippers were attending church services at Maranatha Baptist Church and St Moses Catholic Church in Rubu village when gunmen surrounded the churches.

“Before the congregants noticed, they were already attacking them while some bandits proceeded to other areas,” Danladi said.

The Christian Association of Nigeria condemned Sunday’s attacks and said churches in Nigeria have become targets of armed groups.

Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the association’s spokesperson, told Associated Press that it was unfortunate that while they are still mourning those killed in Owo two Sundays ago, another attack has happened in Kaduna.

There have been similar attacks targeting rural areas in the country’s northern region. 

The motorcycle-riding gunmen often target areas where Nigeria’s security forces are outnumbered.

Authorities have identified the attackers as young herdsmen from the Fulani tribe caught up in Nigeria’s pastoral conflict between host communities and herdsmen over limited access to water and land.

Premium Times reports that gunmen also on motorcycles attacked a number of villages in Kajuru two weeks ago where 32 people were killed.

Image source: @AssociatedPress