By Ademola Adekusibe
16th December 2025
Suspected bandits have abducted 13 worshippers from the First Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Ayetoro Kiri community, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, during a Sunday church service.
The attack occurred on December 14, 2025, when armed men stormed the church premises. Local hunters reportedly engaged the attackers in a gun duel, killing four of the assailants, while others fled into the forest with the abducted worshippers.
Confirming the incident on Monday, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, described Ayetoro Kiri as a rural farming community increasingly exposed to spillover insecurity. He said security operatives and local hunters are actively pursuing the fleeing bandits in the surrounding forests.
“Thirteen persons were kidnapped during the incident, but hunters and other security operatives are currently on the trail of the fleeing bandits within the forest. Ongoing efforts are aimed at rescuing the abducted victims, and we are quite hopeful they will be rescued,” Fanwo said.
Troops from the 12 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, alongside personnel of the Kogi State Police Command and the Department of State Services (DSS), have been deployed to the area to support the rescue operation and restore calm.
The incident marks the second attack on a church in Kogi State within weeks. On November 30, suspected gunmen also attacked a Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area, abducting a pastor and several worshippers.
