Hostage crisis and mosque attack expose Nigerian security failures

Security forces faced renewed condemnation after an attack in north-western Katsina State last week in which scores of people were killed or kidnapped.

Two seminarians kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Edo State appeared in a video filmed by their captors, pleading with their parents, the Church and the general public to help secure their release.

They were seized in an attack on the Diocese of Auchi’s Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Ivianokpodi, Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area on 10 July. In the video, which appeared online earlier this month and was verified by the diocesan spokesman Fr Peter Egielewa, the two teenagers appeared holding human skulls and surrounded by armed masked men who threatened to kill them.

In the video, the seminarians said: “They kill people here. Our abductors have threatened to kill us. Please, send money to them to spare our lives. They told us they have killed people and they are not afraid of killing us.”

The diocese asked Catholics and all who sympathise with the seminarians, “who, out of the love of God ‘s work, have volunteered their lives for the vocation”, to come out to their rescue.

Gunmen killed a civil defence officer in their attack on the seminary on 10 July and abducted three seminarians, later releasing one. Following the abduction, the Edo State Commissioner of Police Monday Agbonika ordered the deployment of tactical units to track the attackers and rescue the victims.

“The operatives will not relent until those behind this reprehensible act are tracked down and made to face the full wrath of the law,” Agbonika said at the time. The Bishop of Auchi Gabriel Duna complained that there had not been “any concrete action” from the government to address the security crisis. “Our local efforts are being overwhelmed,” he said.

A month later, Fr Egielewa said the abductees remained in danger. “The video you see of the seminarians holding a human skull is real. We are negotiating with the kidnappers. But they are asking for money which we do not have and I think it’s out of frustration they did that video,” he said.

Security forces faced renewed condemnation after an attack in north-western Katsina State last week in which scores of people were killed or kidnapped.

Gunmen referred to as bandits attacked a mosque in Unguwan Mantau, Malumfashi Constituency during morning prayers on 19 August, leaving 50 people dead and abducting 60 others, in a reprisal following a fight with villagers a week earlier.

Aminu Ibrahim, a lawmaker representing Malumfashi Constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly, confirmed the next day that 30 worshippers were shot dead and another 20 burned alive during the attack. Christians attending a morning service nearby fled as the bandits then attacked their church.  

“Our people cannot live like this,” Ibrahim said during a plenary session of the House of Assembly.

Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, the state police spokesperson, told reporters that the attackers burned people in their homes.

“They shot at people sporadically and burned 20 of their homes, bringing the total to around 50. By the time police arrived, the bandits had already burned down homes in other villages and kidnapped dozens of people.”

The acting governor of the state Faruk Lawal Jobe visited Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, pleading for more military support to help the state fight banditry and terrorism. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu promised a stronger stance against bandits and terrorists.

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