Gunmen Kill 4, Abduct 13+ in Kogi State Attacks

Armed gunmen attacked a church in central Nigeria's Kogi State on Sunday, killing one worshiper and abducting at least 13 others during a morning service, as part of a series of coordinated assaults that also struck two nearby communities, leaving three more people dead and several kidnapped.

The assault targeted the First Evangelical Church Winning All in Ayetoro-Kiri, a rural village in the Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area. Witnesses reported that the assailants arrived while the congregation was gathered for worship, firing shots into the air to sow panic before seizing parishioners and fleeing into nearby bush paths. The victim killed in the chaos was identified as Jayjay, a local resident. Officials from the Kogi State government indicated that the number of abductions could exceed 20, with security teams continuing to assess the situation.

In a related incident on the same day, gunmen raided the Oke-Agi and Ilai communities in the neighboring Mopamuro Local Government Area around 4 a.m. The attacks, which lasted for over an hour, affected settlements including Jamroro, home to many Tiv farmers, and a Bassa community near Ilai Grammar School. Two people were killed in...