At least three persons have been killed and 30 others are reported to have been kidnapped including the pastor of one of the churches attacked by bandits in Kaduna State.
The attack took place on Sunday morning during a church service in the Bakinpah-Maro community of Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.
The Kaduna State Government and the Kaduna State Police Command were yet to react to the incident. However, a former chairman of Kajuru LGA, Cafra Caino, confirmed the incident and said 30 persons were kidnapped including a pastor.
He said that the terrorists arrived in the area around 10:00am in large numbers, when the church service was ongoing and targeted an ECWA and Catholic church within the vicinity.
Among those abducted is Bernard Gajera, a Pastor from one of the churches attacked. Last month, members of the Maro community had raised funds to complete a security post for law enforcement as part of their efforts to attract more security personnel following repeated attacks by bandits in the area.
Farmers in the area were said to have deserted their farms because of kidnapping and at times killings by bandits. The initiative was aimed at providing a comfortable and functional base for the military personnel posted to the area to effectively operate and protect the community and neighbouring villages.
Members of the community had also appealed to local, state, and federal governments to provide necessary support and funding, to complete the strike force project for the protection of the community.
