Kaduna Easter Attack: Bandits Demand N1bn Ransom To Free 37 Abducted Worshippers

Bandits who attacked three churches in Ariko community, Kachia local government area of Kaduna State, have demanded N1 billion ransom for the release of 37 abducted worshippers.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the victims have spent 11 days in captivity.

The bandits had invaded ECWA, Baptist and Catholic churches in the community on April 5, 2026, killing five worshippers and abducting 37 others.

Though, the military and chairman of Kachia local government area, Dr Manzo Maigari, had claimed the abductees were rescued, the Ariko community leaders rejected the claim.

Meanwhile, president of Kuturmi Development Association (KUDA), Dr Joseph David Ariko, who confirmed the ransom demand in a telephone interview, said the bandits made contact on Tuesday.

He explained that the demand was conveyed through a phone call and not in the video circulating online.

“They called for ransom on Tuesday. It was through a telephone conversation, not in the video. They demanded N1 billion,” he said.

Ariko further disclosed that the call was placed to a community member identified as Samaila Alhaji.

He lamented that the victims are mostly poor rural farmers who lack the financial capacity to raise such an amount.

According to him, the community is largely agrarian, with residents relying on subsistence farming for survival, making the ransom demand unrealistic and deeply distressing.

Ariko however, called on government and security agencies to urgently intervene to secure the release of the abducted victims.

Also, an indigene of Kachia local government and former media aide to late Kaduna state governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Reuben Buhari, who confirmed the ransom demand in his facebook page stated, “The bandits who kidnapped these 37 people from Ariko are asking for a billion naira as ransom. These poor, rural villagers, who have become impoverished due to previous kidnappings and an inability to farm as they did before, are being asked for a figure that most people don’t even know how many zeros it contains” he said.

Kaduna State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Mansir Hassan, did not respond or return calls put through his phone over the ransom demand and rescue efforts by the security agencies.