Suspected bandits have abducted 13 worshippers from the First Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Ayetoro Kiri community, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, during a Sunday service.
The attack occurred on December 14, with local hunters reportedly engaging the assailants in a gun duel that left four of the bandits dead.
Kingsley Fanwo, commissioner for information and communications in Kogi, confirmed the incident on Monday, describing Ayetoro Kiri as a rural farming community increasingly exposed to spillover violence.
Fanwo expressed optimism that the abducted worshippers would be rescued, noting that hunters and security operatives were in pursuit of the fleeing bandits in the surrounding forest.
“Thirteen (13) persons were kidnapped during the incident but the hunters and other security operatives are currently on the trail of the fleeing bandits within the forest, the ongoing efforts is aimed at rescuing the abducted victims,” Fanwo said.
“We are quite hopeful that the kidnapped persons will be rescued.”
Troops from the Nigerian Army’s 12 Brigade, alongside personnel of the Kogi State Police Command and the Department of State Services (DSS), have been deployed to the area.
The incident marks the second attack on a church in Kogi within weeks. On November 30, suspected gunmen abducted a pastor and several worshippers from a Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.