According to a report by Daily Post Nigeria on Saturday, 23 May, 2026, In the heart of Kaduna State, fear continues to grip the Ariko community in Kachia Local Government Area, where the joy of Easter Sunday has been replaced by 45 days of anguish following a brutal attack on three churches.
Armed bandits stormed worship services, killing five innocent congregants and abducting 37 others men, women, and possibly children who remain in captivity deep in the forests.
As families mark another painful milestone, the abductors are holding firm to an outrageous ransom: N1 billion and 35 motorcycles, demands the impoverished farming community says it cannot possibly meet.
Dr. Joseph David Ariko, President of the Kuturmi Development Association (KUDA), has broken his silence in an emotional appeal to both federal and state governments.
Speaking to DAILY POST, he described the bandits’ relentless pressure: calls arriving every two days with no willingness to negotiate down the staggering sum. “They are not ready to reduce the amount of money they are demanding from poor farmers who, in reality, cannot afford to raise such an amount,” he lamented.
The community’s only hope, he stressed, lies in swift government intervention and decisive rescue operations by security forces.
On what should have been a day of celebration, gunmen descended on St. Augustine Catholic Church, ECWA Church, and Baptist Church in Ariko.
Eyewitness accounts paint a scene of chaos and terror as worshippers were cut down mid-service. Five lost their lives instantly.
The remaining 37 were marched into the bush at gunpoint, vanishing into an increasingly familiar pattern of banditry that has plagued parts of Nigeria’s North-West and Middle Belt.
Nearly a month and a half later, the psychological toll is immense. Families alternate between despair and fragile hope, while the wider community lives under a cloud of uncertainty.
Normal economic and social activities have ground to a halt. Farmers are afraid to tend their fields, children miss school, and nightly prayers are now laced with pleas for the safe return of loved ones…See More
