‘Bandits kill one, kidnap 100 Baptist Church worshippers in Kaduna’

CAN laments shutdown of telecom

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, has said the shutdown of telecom services in the state has worsened insecurity, as bandits had a field day on Sunday killing one and kidnapping over 100 Baptist Church worshippers.

Chairman of Kaduna CAN, Rev. Joseph Hayab, said, yesterday, that the security situation kept deteriorating, against the state government’s claims that it was on top of the situation.

According to Hayab, the insecurity in the state came to a climax on Sunday, when bandits stormed Emmanuel Baptist Church during service, killed one and abducted over 100 worshippers, while others sustained severe injuries.

Hayab said: “We are seriously worried now. Gunmen are gradually approaching the township. Emmanuel Baptist Church, which is in Kakau Daji, is just less than three kilometres to Sabon Tashan.

“The truth about the shutdown of network of telecom services is that people who are making policies are not fair to the citizens. You will agree with me that government is doing trial and error, and this has not worked to curb insecurity in the state.”

According to Kaduna CAN, a victim’s family said the kidnappers told them that they had to pay more on ransom because the gunmen had to go extra mile for network service before getting the victims’ relations.

“The abducted Emmanuel Baptist Church worshippers would have cried out on Sunday to facilitate their rescue and for people to know that they were endangered, but they could not cry out. So, the shutdown of telecom network even assisted the bandits more,” he added.
He lamented that unless appropriate measures are taken against insecurity in the state, the security challenges would worsen.