Latest: 17 Kidnapped Worshippers Died in Captivity in Kaduna, CSW Says

Yunusa Nmadu stood in a church in Kaduna on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church and read out numbers that were really names. Seventeen worshippers, he said, had died in captivity after gunmen seized them from three churches in Ariko community in April 2026. Twelve had escaped at different times, and eight had been released after five months.

Nmadu, chief executive officer of Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria, said four more people seized in a seperate incident in Awon village remained in captivity after more than six months, and were reportedly in critical condition.

Kaduna Ariko Church Attack April 2026 Worshippers Abducted

On 5 April 2026, gunmen invaded three churches in Ariko, in Kachia Local Government Area, while worshippers were attending Sunday services, The Sun reports. Five people were killed in the attack, and 37 others, mostly women and children, were abducted and taken away.

Nmadu told the gathering at ECWA Goodnews Church in Kaduna that the security situation in parts of the state had deteriorated so far that worshippers could no longer freely attend church services without fear, The Sun reports. The presentation was held to mark the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, under the theme "Light in the Darkest Places."

He cited attacks across Kachia, Kajuru, Kauru and Kagarko local government areas, where he said armed groups had repeatedly attacked communities, abducted residents, and subjected captives, particularly women and children, to degrading treatment. Thousands of residents had abandoned their homes, he said, and religious activities had been disrupted across the affected areas.

Of the 37 taken, 12 escaped, 17 died in captivity, and eight were released after five months, according to Nmadu. Behind each figure sits a family that waited months for news, and in 17 cases the news was the worst possible kind.

Awon Kidnapping Four Christians Still Held in Kaduna

Fifteen days after Ariko, on 20 April, 11 people were abducted in Awon village, also in Kachia Local Government Area, The Cabal reports. One victim escaped, six were confirmed dead, and four remained in captivity more than six months later, reportedly in critical condition.

Nmadu also recalled an earlier mass abduction on 18 January 2026 at Kurmin Wali in Kajuru Local Government Area, where 177 worshippers were reportedly kidnapped during Sunday services in three churches, The Cabal reports. He alleged that the authorities initially denied the incident but later acknowledged it after interventions and public advocacy by organisations including CSW, and the victims were released after 18 days.

The conditions described for captives were brutal. Nmadu said male and female captives were usually seperated on arrival at the camps, their movement was severely restricted, and they were denied adequate food, clean water and basic hygiene facilities, The Sun reports. He alleged that women, including elderly victims and nursing mothers, were repeatedly subjected to sexual violence, and that some survivors returned home pregnant.

He said the suffering often continued after release, because of the physical and psychological consequences of what captives had endured. Families who welcomed loved ones home found that the ordeal had followed them out of the forest.

CSW Nigeria Prayer for Persecuted Christians Leah Sharibu

Nmadu alleged that Christians accounted for about 99 per cent of victims in some of the communities affected by insecurity in Northern Nigeria, The Sun reports. That figure is CSW's allegation about specific affected communities, not a verified count for the whole region, and it should be read as the organisation's claim rather than an established statistic.

"Behind every report and every statistic is a person: a widow, a child, a pastor, a family who has lost a home or a loved one. They are not numbers to us."

He also drew attention to Leah Sharibu, abducted in February 2018, whose prolonged captivity he described as a painful reminder of the plight of victims who remained in the hands of armed groups years after their abduction, The Cabal reports. Her name has become shorthand in Nigeria for every family still waiting for someone to come home.

Nmadu said CSW had spent more than 17 years documenting violations of freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria, supporting victims and survivors, and training human rights defenders. A similar presentation and prayer session was held at Albaraka Baptist Church in Kaduna, and CSW announced plans for an online prayer session as part of the prayer day activities.

Readers can follow the wider prayer day in the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Christians 2026 focus on Bassam, and recent Nigeria violence in Boko Haram destroying a church in Adamawa as eight villages are displaced. The Pakistan case is covered in a Pakistan mob burning a Christian man's home over a blasphemy allegation, and the church's appeal for a kidnapped pastor in Nasarawa Pastor Monday Habu abducted as the church demands urgent action.

Four people are still held tonight, and their families do not know whether the next news will be release or a funeral. Whether the world keeps praying, keeps asking, and keeps saying their names may decide which of those two messages arrives first, and that is why Nmadu ended his presentation not with a statistic but with a plea.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.