BANDITS KIDNAPPED 807 ECWA CHURCH PASTORS, MEMBERS IN KADUNA - REVEREND TIMOTHY MAIGIDA

No fewer than eight hundred and seven members of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) were reportedly kidnapped in Kaduna State in the last eleven months of this year.

The Chairman of ECWA Kasuwan Magani District Council, Reverend Timothy Maigida, confirmed this to reporters on Thursday, noting that the figures reported are the total of Church members abducted during various attacks by bandits in the Kajuru local government area of the state alone in 2022.

The cleric said that the kidnapped victims include pastors, adding that at least 70 other members are still being held hostage by bandits with their whereabouts unknown.

Maigida noted that most attacks occurred inside the churches when members were observing their weekly or Sunday services.

He lamented that the increasing rate of banditry and kidnapping had affected the area’s religious and socio-economic activities.

The ECWA Pastor, however, urged the security agencies in the state to be more proactive and to increase their presence in rural areas where most of the bandit attacks occur.

He also prayed the state government to pay attention to the welfare of the thousands of displaced people scattered across the area.