One person has been killed and several others abducted after an attack on the Damba-Kasaya Community in Chikun Local Government Area (LGA), Kaduna State, Nigeria on 24th August.
Suspected Islamic Fulani fighters turned up at the community on motorcycles at around 7.45am, before storming the Prince Academy secondary school, abducting a teacher, Christiana Madugu, along with at least four final year students who were preparing to sit their final exams.
The kidnapped children have been identified as Happy Odoji, 14, Miracle Danjuma, 13, her sister Favour Danjuma, 9, who was taken from her home, and Ezra Bako, 15.
The gunmen then broke into the Aminchi Baptist Church, destroying musical instruments and the PA system, before setting the building ablaze - they then went on to kidnap other villagers. Local reports indicate that the fighters then engaged in a brief fight with members of the military, before the soldiers withdrew. Villagers then continued to pursue the attackers, during which time a local man named Benjamin Auta was shot dead - he leaves behind a wife and baby.
CSW’s chief executive Mervyn Thomas said: “The situation in southern Kaduna is pressing and increasingly desperate. We extend our condolences to the family of Mr Auta, and our prayers are with those who anxiously await the safe return of their loved ones. We urge the Nigerian government to address this violence and insecurity in an earnest and unbiased manner, to provide humanitarian assistance for the burgeoning number of displaced people and to guarantee their safe return to their homes and lands.
"We also call on the European Union and the governments of the UK and US to encourage the Kaduna state and federal governments to provide for these IDPs, who continue to rely on NGO and church donations for survival, and to allocate resources towards assisting them as a matter of urgency.”
