Published on: December 17, 2025 10:35 (EAT)
A WORSHIPPER prays at the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) during a prayer called by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Minna on December 7, 2025.
(photo credit: Light Oriye Tamunotonye / AFP via Getty Images)
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At least 13 worshippers were abducted when gunmen attacked a
church in Kogi state, central Nigeria, amid rising insecurity in the region, a
state official said on Wednesday.
Kogi Information Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo said the
assault on First ECWA church, in the remote Ayetoro-Kiri community, on Sunday
sparked a gunfight between the attackers and local hunters employed by the
state as a first line of defence.
Four of the attackers were killed and at least 10 others sustained
wounds, Fanwo said, adding that security forces remained on the trail of the
fleeing kidnappers.
The attack is the latest in a series of abductions in
central Nigeria and puts more pressure on the government, which is under
scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened military
action over what he says is persecution of Christians.
More than and 12 school staff were kidnapped on November 21
by gunmen at a Catholic boarding school in Papiri, central Nigeria. While 50
pupils in the following hours and another 100 were rescued by the
government on December 8, others remain in captivity with no update on their
whereabouts or condition.
Security forces have intensified operations to rescue the
hostages in Kogi, Fanwo said.
