…Rebukes Govt’s silence over faith of 166 worshipers in bandits’ den as none escaped.
…Says, unprecedented wave of kidnapping and mass displacement of communities – a smear on much-touted ‘Kaduna Peace Model.’
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Middle-Belt Forum (MBF) of Nigeria has raised alarm – alleging that why it continued to anxiously await credible news on the 166 Adara worshippers abducted from three churches in Kurmin Wali Village, Kajuru LGA of Southern Kaduna, 15 days ago, the Forum is compelled to draw urgent global attention to another mass abduction that has remained silent, despite its seriousness.
“As the Middle-Belt Forum (MBF) continues to anxiously await any credible news on the 166 Adara worshippers abducted from three churches in Kurmin Wali Village, Kajuru Local Government Area of Southern Kaduna, 15 days ago, we are compelled to draw urgent global attention to another mass abduction that has remained silent, despite its seriousness,” it stated.
This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the Forum’s President, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, and made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Monday, 2nd February, 2026.
The Forum’s spokesman, Luka Binniyat, also confirmed to our reporter that eighty (80) Kurmin Wali kidnapped Church worshippers escaped from bandits’ captivity as reported in national dailies, adding that only those, who escaped from the village during the bandits invasion on the Sunday, that returned home.
The statement, however, lamented that “On 18 December 2025, 15 married women from Kilakasa Village, Dille District, Uba Emirate, Uba/Askira Local Government Area in Southern Borno, were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, as they fished by a nearby river.
“These women, who are all Christians of the Marghi ethnic group, are mothers, caregivers and pillars of their families. They are aged 30 to 40, and all have children. At least one woman has six young children left without a mother,” the Forum stated.
MBF also stated that, “Despite immediate reporting to police and, partial ransom efforts by families, communication with the abductors has mysteriously ceased, and no rescue operation has been put in place, to the best of our understanding.
“The complete silence by the Nigerian media on such a grave crime is curious and deeply troubling. Each day that passes without information adds to the anguish of loved ones and reinforces fear in our communities in the Middle-Belt areas of Borno State.
“While we hail the swift rescue of 12 girls abducted by Boko Haram from a communal farm in Mussa District, Askira Emirate, just four days after their capture by troops of Operation Hadin Kai, we urge the same level of urgency, focus and commitment on these unfortunate women in the terrorists’ den.
“Compounding our sorrow and alarm is the total lack of any update or situation report on the 166 worshippers kidnapped in Kurmin Wali.
“The silence of the Kaduna State Government and Kaduna State Police Command, who at first even denied the crime, is not only unsettling, it is heartlessly insensitive to such large numbers of victims’ families and the wider public who deserve transparency about those who were violently taken from worship 15 days today.
“We must now also condemn the recent coordinated attack on Agwara Town, in Niger State, which lies in the Middle-Belt region’s security crisis,” the Forum lamented.
According to MBF, “In the early hours of Sunday, armed bandits stormed the community, overpowered local security forces, set the Divisional Police Station ablaze, attacked a church and abducted at least five residents.
“Reports indicate that the devastation has left families traumatized and the town in panic, as inhabitants face further insecurity and fear for loved ones still missing.
“This attack on Agwara, like many others in the Middle-Belt, reflects a disturbing pattern of barbarity that includes worship centres, schools, police installations and civilian communities.
“Meanwhile, daily incidents of kidnapping and attacks continue unabated in Southern Kaduna, especially in Kauru, Kachia, Lere, Chikun and Kagarko LGAs, with perpetrators acting with apparent impunity. This unrelenting criminality highlights a deep insecurity that local military and security agencies have struggled to contain,” it added.
The body stressed that, despite Kaduna State’s large geographic size and resources, it lacks a properly-trained, equipped and funded civilian security support force, adding, “This is a glaring gap when compared to neighbouring states that have established community defence collaborations with formal security services.”
Forum lamented that, “It is, therefore, profoundly disappointing that the much-touted ‘Kaduna Peace Model’ has coincided with unprecedented waves of kidnappings and mass displacements of communities, often executed by the very Fulani bandits, allegedly ‘reintegrated’ through pardons by Governor Uba Sani, in 2024, and placed under some welfare of Kaduna State Government.
“That is why a well-designed, executed and targeted violence on the Christian majority ethnic nationalities of the Middle-Belt gives credence to the now globally-acknowledged Christian Genocide in Nigeria,” it stated.
The MBF, therefore, demands for immediate, transparent updates on all abducted persons, especially the 15 women of Dile Town of Askira/Uba LGA, and the 166 worshippers from Kajuru LGA of Kaduna State, swift, coordinated rescue efforts with measurable results, as well as protection strategies that would honour citizens’ constitutional rights to life and security.
Forum reiterated that the lives of the women and all other abducted persons matters most.