Bandits Raid Churches, Kills Pastor, Abducts Wife, Others in Niger

A pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All in Chikuba town, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, Reverend Jeremiah Ibrahim, has been killed by suspected bandits.

Reports say the 37-year-old clergyman was slain last Thursday when his assailants invaded his church in the night of Thursday last week.

This was confirmed by Secretary of the Minna District Council of ECWA, Reverend Adamu Na’Allah, following the burial of the deceased.

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Reverend Adamu disclosed that Ibrahim was in Chikuba to harvest crops from his farm before the attack.

It was also revealed that the victim had earlier been transferred and replaced by another pastor, but joined his successor in harvesting the crop.

According to Adamu, the clergy house was attacked by bandits before the two clergy men could begin the planned harvest.

The duo hid themselves in the ceiling of the house to escape their assailants. The came out of hiding when they thought the coast was clear, not knowing the bandits were still very much around.

The late Ibrahim is said to have who come out of his hiding place first, and was killed by the bandits.

Five other women including the wife of the deceased clergyman were reportedly taken hostage by the bandits.

It was gathered that their abductors later demanded a N50 million ramsom for the release of the wife.

Na’Allah further disclosed that people in the neighboring Kuchi village were also kidnapped by the same set of bandits, but later released five of the them.

One of them was killed because he was found with a local vigilante uniform, while a ransom of N1.2 million was demanded by the bandits to secure the release of the remaining victims.

Adamu also narrated that another clergy house was attacked in Ka’ala village of Munya Local Government Area on Sunday night, but the resident clergy and his family had already fled the building.

Quizzed if they reported the incidents to authorities, Na’Allah explained they did not bother to do so because previous complaints were never attended to by security operatives.