Africa-Press. Police in Nigeria’s federal capital have confirmed that dozens of people abducted by armed men in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, have returned to their homes after weeks in captivity.
The victims were among 177 worshippers kidnapped last month from three churches in the remote village of Kurmin Wali. According to a BBC correspondent in Nigeria, citing state police spokesperson Mansour Hassan, eighty captives managed to escape on the day of their abduction and hid in neighboring villages for two weeks for fear of being recaptured.
Authorities said efforts are continuing to secure the release of the remaining 86 hostages. The attack is part of a wider wave of ransom kidnappings across Nigeria, with no group claiming responsibility.
Nigeria says Boko Haram senior commander killed
The Nigerian army has announced the killing of a senior Boko Haram commander and ten other fighters during a night-time operation in Borno State, in the country’s northeast.
The army identified the slain commander as Abu Khaled, saying he was Boko Haram’s second-in-command in the Sambisa Forest. In a statement, the military said: “Abu Khaled was a key figure in the terrorist group’s hierarchy, responsible for coordinating operations and logistics in the Sambisa area.”
The army reported no casualties among its forces and said clearance operations are continuing in the Sambisa Forest, the Mandara Mountains, the Timbuktu Triangle, and other known hideouts of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.
Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province, for more than a decade, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across the Lake Chad Basin.
In a related development, Nigerian police said gunmen attacked a police station and a church on Sunday in central Nigeria, abducting five people. The area had previously witnessed the abduction of more than 250 pupils from a Catholic school in late 2025.
The attack occurred at dawn in the Agwara area, which saw a mass kidnapping of around 300 pupils in November. The violence comes amid a sharp rise in abductions across Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
In early December, Nigerian authorities secured the release of 100 pupils kidnapped from a Catholic school, but the fate of the others remains unknown. The incident ranks among the largest mass kidnappings in the country’s history.
Regarding Sunday’s attack, police said that “at around 3:40 a.m. (2:40 GMT), armed men stormed the Agwara area and attacked the police station, possibly using dynamite to set it ablaze after overpowering officers.” Police added that “the attackers later moved to the United Methodist Church, setting part of it on fire, before abducting about five people from other areas.”
Washington has meanwhile stepped up diplomatic pressure on Abuja over the violence, which US President Donald Trump has described as “genocide” and “persecution” targeting Christians.
