Bandits Abduct Pastor, Wife And Worshippers After Attack On Kogi Church
Video from Ejiba in Yagba West, Kogi State, has captured the scene inside a Cherubim and Seraphim church moments after armed men attacked during Sunday service on November 30, 2025. The hall is left in disarray, with scattered footwear, abandoned Bibles, and personal items showing how quickly worshippers fled.
The attackers abducted the pastor known as Orlando, his wife, and several congregants whose exact number remains uncertain. The incident has thrown the community into fear and renewed anxiety over persistent insecurity in the region.
In the footage, the person recording walks through the empty church and describes what happened, saying: “I hid myself; this is the church where they abducted people. You are seeing where they kidnapped people at Ejiba. Please, save us. Baba Orlando, who is the head of this church, was abducted. You can see the inside. They didn’t bother to put off the speaker or anything.”
The Ejiba attack mirrors a pattern of violent assaults on worship centres across Kogi and neighbouring states. On November 18, armed men invaded Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Isegun, in Eruku, Kwara State, during a service. They shot repeatedly to scare worshippers, killed at least five people, and abducted 38 individuals, including women, children, and the elderly.
The Eruku community was left shaken, especially after a list of abducted members showed that 30 of the victims were women aged between seven and sixty-four. Initial information indicated ransom demands as high as ₦100 million per victim, later reduced to about ₦20 million.
Relief finally came on November 23 when Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq confirmed that all 38 abducted worshippers had been freed. Security agencies — the police, DSS, and NIA — coordinated the operation that secured their release.
