Three people abducted in Nigeria’s Kaduna state have died in captivity after being held in the same forest hideout where 37 worshippers kidnapped from three churches during Easter Sunday services were also confined.
The victims were among 11 people seized on April 20 from the Awon area of Kachia Local Government Area by heavily armed Fulani militia, according to the U.K.-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The captives were taken to the same forest camp where 37 worshippers abducted in coordinated attacks on three churches in the nearby Ariko community had been held since Easter Sunday, April 5.
One member of the Awon group later escaped. Joy Samuel gave birth while in captivity, but her baby died, and Samuel herself died on Aug. 28. Her three-year-old daughter, Silvia Samuel, who was abducted with her mother, is reportedly in critical condition.
A woman abducted from Ariko also gave birth while being held, but the infant died about two weeks later. She escaped in early August with her three other children, ages four, six and 12, but the youngest, already critically ill, died while she carried the child through the forest.
Yusuf Bawa and his five-year-old son also died from illness and severe hunger. Two 14-year-old girls, Faith Kefas and Rachel Bulus, are said to be gravely ill after surviving for months on little more than river water.
The kidnappers initially demanded 300 million naira, about $225,700, along with 23 motorcycles for the captives’ release. They rejected a counteroffer of several million naira from the community and threatened to deny food to those being held until the ransom was paid.
The ransom demand has since been reduced to 9 million naira, roughly $6,770, plus four motorcycles in exchange for the release of the seven captives who remain. The kidnappers reportedly acknowledged that the remaining hostages are in extremely poor health because of illness and hunger.
The abductions are part of a broader pattern documented by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, which recorded 34,773 civilian kidnappings in Nigeria between October 2019 and September 2025. The figure included 15,932 Christians, 15,272 Muslims, 252 adherents of African traditional religions and 3,317 people whose religious identity was unknown.
Kaduna state accounted for the largest share of civilian abductions nationwide and an even greater proportion of Christian abductions, representing 26% of all civilian kidnappings and 42% of those involving Christians. Nigeria’s North West region recorded the highest number of abductions overall during the six years.
The same research documented 4,590 attacks involving kidnappings, averaging about two incidents per day. Unidentified armed groups were blamed for 49% of civilian abductions, Fulani-linked terror groups for 43%, and Boko Haram together with the Islamic State’s West Africa affiliate for the remaining 6%.
