- Safiu Kehinde
Suspected bandits have attacked a Cherubim and Seraphim church in Kogi state, abducting the church’s Pastor, his wife, and scores of worshipers.
The armed bandits reportedly launched the attack in the early hours of Sunday early morning at the church located in Ejiba community, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.
The incident had thrown the community into chaos, with people running shelter-skelter in search of a safe place to hide.
A now viral video shared on X by one of the residents showed the church located in a dense bushy area deserted few minutes after the attack.
While confirming the development in a statement issued, the Kogi Commissioner for Information, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, described the incident as very sad and unfortunate.
Fanwo assured that the victims would all be rescued.
He however warned residents attending places of worship located in a bushy area.
“Those who struck at Ejiba must have been hiding in the community for some days or in bushes around the village.
“Some villagers would have seen them and kept quiet. If you refuse to raise alarms when you see strange faces at a time like this, who knows who will be victims of their madness?
“Worshipping in the bush without security in this era, just a few weeks after worshippers were abducted from a church in Kwara State, to me is not ideal.
“We all need to be security conscious at this time. We also need to volunteer intelligence,” he advised.
The commissioner said that the state government and the Yagba West LGA have been working hard to battle criminality in the area as a border LGA.
According to him, Ejiba has had its fair share of some of these criminal activities, yet some pastors would still encourage their members to come to a church in the bush to worship at a time like this without recourse.
“It’s easy to blame the government, but those suffering in the hands of these incurable irredentists are our people. So why won’t we subscribe to wisdom?
“When you see something, say something. Avoid going to unsecured churches and mosques now.
“Avoid absolutely unnecessary journeys at this time. Any journey along the danger zones should be avoided. Do not disclose your movement to anyone again.”
Fanwo said that the state government and the security operatives have taken drastic measures to rescue the kidnapped victims.