80 worshippers who were abducted during a bandit attack on Kurmin Wali community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State have been found, while 86 others remain unaccounted for.
The Village Head, Ishaku Dan’azumi, said the victims escaped through nearby forests on the day of the attack and hid in remote settlements out of fear.
“We have now confirmed that 80 of our people have been found in different locations. They ran through the forest and hid because of fear on the very day of the incident,” he said.
He said contact was only re-established after one of the victims reached out to the community a few days ago and disclosed their location, prompting a verification exercise.
“One of them called and told us where they were. We sent people there and confirmed their whereabouts. They were afraid because they thought what happened to a nearby village, where bandits burnt down the entire community, had happened to us. That was why they did not reach out immediately,” he explained.
The village head said a headcount carried out on Friday confirmed that 80 people had been found in various bush settlements.
He added that search teams were also drafted to forest locations to determine whether more victims were still in hiding.
Dan’azumi noted that the state government had been formally informed of the development, but fear continued to prevent some of the escapees from returning home.
“We have informed the government that 80 people have been found. They want us to gather them together, but fear is stopping many of them from returning. However, we have spoken with them and confirmed their locations,” he said.
Bandits on the 18 of January invaded Kurmin Wali in a coordinated attack on churches, abducting 177 women, children and men.
This medium reported that the attack sparked public outrage, with many Nigerians calling on the Federal Government to intervene and rescue those taken.
