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5d ago

Priest Abducted in Deadly Kaduna Raid, Church and Police Dispute Toll

Conflicting accounts highlight the struggle to verify casualties in Nigeria’s expanding security crisis.

A police vehicle of Operation Fushin Kada (Anger of Crocodile) is parked on Yakowa Road, as schools across northern Nigeria reopen nearly two months after closing due to security concerns, following the mass abductions of school children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Nuhu Gwamna/File Photo
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Overview

  • Gunmen stormed the parish residence at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Karku, Kauru district of Kaduna before dawn on Saturday.
  • The Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan says three residents were killed and eleven people were abducted, including parish priest Father Nathaniel Asuwaye.
  • Kaduna police confirm the attack but report five abductees including the priest and say the dead were two soldiers and a police officer after a firefight.
  • The assault follows the rescue of 166 worshippers taken in January church attacks in Kaduna and a Feb. 3 massacre that left more than 150 dead in Kwara state.
  • Amnesty International criticized the government’s handling of the crisis as deteriorating, and the U.S. has conducted December airstrikes and deployed a small team to support Nigerian security efforts.