Gunmen Kill at Least Five, Abduct 31 Worshippers in Easter Sunday Nigeria Church Attack

Gunmen stormed two Christian churches in Ariko village, Kaduna State, during Easter Sunday services, killing at least five worshippers and abducting 31 others before Nigerian Army troops pursued the attackers and rescued all the hostages in a firefight.

The assault targeted the First ECWA Church (Evangelical Church Winning All) and St. Augustine Catholic Church in Ariko, a community in Kachia Local Government Area roughly 100 kilometres north of Abuja. Attackers arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning, surrounded both compounds and opened fire on worshippers who had gathered for Easter celebrations.

Mark Bawa, the councillor representing Awon Ward under which Ariko District falls, confirmed the attack by phone. "The attackers came in large numbers. They surrounded the area and began shooting sporadically at worshippers. Several people were killed, and many others were taken away into the bush," he said. Bawa noted that poor telecommunications coverage in Ariko likely delayed the response from security agencies.

The Nigerian Army placed the confirmed death toll at five. Caleb Bawa Ma'aji, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria for Kaduna State, told AFP that seven people were killed, a figure the councillor said he was traveling to the community to verify. Following a distress call, troops mobilized to the scene and were aided in their pursuit by local community members. The army described the ensuing confrontation as a "fierce firefight," during which troops overpowered the attackers with "superior firepower," forcing them to abandon the 31 captives. One of the rescued hostages sustained injuries and received medical attention. Blood trails along the attackers' escape routes suggested the fleeing gunmen had themselves sustained significant casualties.

The attack unfolded despite Nigeria's police chief having ordered a "massive security deployment" at places of worship during the Easter festival period.

The assault on Ariko is the latest in a string of church kidnappings in Kaduna State. In January 2026, bandits rounded up more than 170 worshippers from three churches in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru LGA, also in Kaduna. About 80 escaped, and the remainder were released after approximately three weeks in captivity following negotiations.

Kaduna falls within a broader belt of northwestern and central Nigerian states long terrorised by criminal gangs known locally as "bandits," who carry out mass kidnappings for ransom. Security analysts have flagged a growing collaboration between these financially motivated gangs and jihadist groups operating from the northeast. The Nigerian Army's characterization of Sunday's attackers as "terrorists" left open the question of whether jihadists or bandits were responsible.

On the same Easter Sunday, Nigerian troops killed at least 65 bandits in a separate offensive in Zamfara State, striking the camp of notorious bandit leader Ado Alero in Tsafe LGA. Among those killed was Alero's son, Kachalla Iliya Sarki. Police in Zamfara had separately confirmed a mass kidnapping carried out earlier in the week in that state.

Nigeria's security crisis has drawn international scrutiny, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has alleged that Christians in Nigeria are being subjected to "genocide." The army, in its statement on the Ariko rescue, urged the public to provide security agencies with timely information, a call that carries particular weight in remote communities like Ariko where weak mobile networks can be the difference between intervention and disaster.