Bandits have kidnapped no fewer than 60 worshippers in a church in Kasuwan-Magani in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

This development was confirmed by the Southern Kaduna People’s Union in a statement it issued on Monday in Kaduna.

The President of SOKAPU, Awemi Dio Maisamari, disclosed that the terrorists had made telephone calls to some people in the communities and claimed that they have 40 abductees in their custody, demanding N200 million.

Maisamari said: “There is still no breathing space for communities in Southern Kaduna. Terrorists, jihadists, bandits and armed herdsmen have continued to plunder and wreck communities in the southern state. The latest are the mass abductions that took place on September 12 and 13, 2022, at Kasuwan Magani in Kajuru LGA of Southern Kaduna.

“Kasuwan Magani is about 20 kilometres south of Kaduna metropolis on the Kaduna-Kafanchan Express Road and hosts the biggest weekly market in Kaduna State.

“On the first day (12th September), six people were abducted in a night raid by the daredevil terrorists at the Ungwan Fada part of the town.

“With no measures put in place to forestall recurrence, the following day (13th September), the terrorists stormed the Cherubim and Seraphim Church during a night vigil programme at the Bayan Kasuwa quarters of Kasuwan Magani town, at around midnight. They succeeded in carting away more than 60 people from the church and neighbouring houses. However, they could not take all of them away because some were very little children, too old or had health challenges.

“While retreating with their captors to their camps, they attacked Janwuriya village, few kilometres from Kasuwan Magani and abducted two more people. As of now, 45 people have so far been confirmed.

“But yesterday, September 18, 2022, they made contact with some people in the town, via phone calls, and claimed that only 40 people were held by them. They demanded a ransom of N200 million, but negotiation is still ongoing. We don’t know the identity or the fate of the five missing people yet.

“In other communities in Kajuru and Chikun LGAs, the occupying terrorists cohabit with the locals who are treated like captives. They are terrorised  at will, making it difficult or impossible for them to till or harvest their farms. As a result, most early maturing crops are being left to rot on the farm. This is a daily experience in most occupied communities in Southern Kaduna.”