…Accuses police, Kajuru LG chairman of deliberate cover-up
Adara Development Association (ADA), has tasked the Federal and Kaduna State governments as well as the international community to urgently intervene to secure the release of the abducted 166 Christian worshippers from Kurmin Wali in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The ADA particularly demanded a halt to what it described as “the systematic brutality, displacement and dispossession” of the Adara people on their ancestral lands.
This was as the Association accused the Nigeria police and the Chairman of Kajuru Local Government Council, Hon Dauda Madaki, of deliberately suppressing the truth and failing in their constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property.
ADA which stated these while reviewing the abduction of 177 Christian worshippers in Kurmi Wali community, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State by bandits during a coordinated attack, said that i66 victims are still in captivity.
No fewer than 166 Christian worshippers during church services in Kurmin Wali village, Afogo Ward of Kajuru Local Government Area were kidnapped by armed bandits.
The Association has described the attack and abduction which occurred at about 11:45am on Sunday, January 18, 2026, as one of the most brazen mass kidnappings in recent times by armed men who stormed two congregations of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Churches during worship.
Worshippers of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), just as other worshippers who were returning home after service, were also reportedly seized by the assailants.
Kajuru Local Government Area is predominantly inhabited by the indigenous Adara people, who are mainly Christians.
The ADA in a statement by Chief Sebastine A. Barde, President of the Association, said distress calls were promptly made to security agencies, traditional rulers, religious leaders and political authorities, but no immediate rescue operation was mounted.
However, community leaders expressed surprise that despite receiving eyewitness accounts and interacting with survivors and relatives of the victims, the Commissioner of Police for the Kaduna State Command, CP Muhammad Rabiu, and the Kajuru Council Chairman still denied that any kidnapping had taken place, describing the reports as rumours allegedly spread by conflict entrepreneurs.
ADA said that to deny the abduction of 166 innocent worshippers after hearing firsthand accounts from survivors and affected families, amounted to a grave moral failure.
It noted that such denial represented a disturbing return to the era of insecurity and official insensitivity experienced under the previous administration in Kaduna State.
ADA particularly expressed disappointment with the Council Chairman, an indigene of Afogo Ward, accusing him of aligning with a state official to cover-up rather than standing with his people in their moment of distress.
While responding to the demand by the Police Commissioner and the Council Chairman for proof, ADA said it submitted a detailed list of the abducted persons, saying that survivors and family members were available to provide further verification.
The Association demanded a public apology to the Adara people and also called on Governor Uba Sani to show moral leadership by distancing his administration from what it described “reckless denial” and ensuring urgent action to rescue the victims.
