By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABUJA (Worthy News) - Seven people were abducted after returning from a church service in north-central Nigeria amid massive attacks against Christians that killed more than 130 believers, Christian aid workers confirmed.
Those kidnapped were in a group of eight ambushed by suspected Muslim gunmen in Nigeria’s Benue State, Worthy News learned Friday.
However, one of them was reportedly freed after the attack at the Atamka village in the Owukpa community in Ogbadibo Local Government Area (LGA).
Christian’s Samuel Onu, a former Chairman of the LGA, said in remarks shared with Worthy News that “one of the group was spared abduction due to having a leg injury which would have slowed the kidnappers down.”
He confirmed that “a security guard was abducted in Atamka the previous day.”
The abductions came after at least 133 believers were reportedly killed since the beginning of March as anti-Christian violence rages across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, to which Benue State belongs.
MANY KILLED
In one of the latest attacks, “Women and children were among 33 people killed. [It happened] on the Christian community of Sankwap Runji in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State on April 15,” said Barnabas Aid, a Christian aid group.
“Many victims were asleep and died when the attackers set fire to more than 40 homes. A mass burial was conducted the following day by a senior church leader.”
Barnabas Aid urged its supporters to “Pray for all who mourn and ask that they be assured that their loved ones have received the Crown of Life” with Christ Jesus.
“Ask that the men of violence will have a life-changing encounter with the Prince of Peace,” the group added, referring to Christ.
Barnabas Aid, which is working in the region, also ask prayers that “the Lord will draw close to those abducted, strengthening them spiritually through their ordeal, and that they will all be released without harm.”
Thousands of Christians have been killed and injured in Nigeria in recent years, often in attacks by various Muslim groups.