Nigerian Army Rescue Story Collapses: 36 Christians Still Held After Easter Sunday Church Massacre in Kaduna

Nigerian Army Rescue Story Exposed as False: 36 Christians Still Held by Kaduna Terrorists After Easter Sunday Church Massacre

A community leader in Ariko, Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, has revealed that the widely reported rescue of 31 Christian worshippers abducted during the Easter Sunday attack never happened. According to TruthNigeria, 36 Christians remain in captivity after heavily armed assailants stormed the ECWA church just as the Easter service was ending.

The community leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, directly disputed the military intervention narrative.

The military did not rescue anyone. They came after the attackers had already left. They even left without deploying a single soldier to assist us. Ariko community leader

The attackers carefully timed the Easter assault while most village guards were attending church services.

The terrorists avoided their usual route and instead used a narrow, rarely monitored bush path to reach the ECWA church. The first victim shot was the church cashier, killed while counting the offering.

They came through that bush path and went straight to the ECWA Church just as the service had ended and people were dispersing. The church cashier was the first to be shot while counting the offering. People began running, only to run into attackers positioned in ambush. Ariko community leader

Within 20 minutes, the attackers had gathered over 70 women and children and began marching them into the bush.

Southern Kaduna Christian Community Betrayed as Easter Abduction Crisis Deepens

Local hunters and volunteer guards eventually regrouped and freed 31 women and children during a firefight, losing three guards killed and seven wounded in the process. The remaining 36 captives were moved to a kidnapper holding camp approximately 35 miles west of Ariko.

Ransom demands are expected to be at least $72,000 according to TruthNigeria sources. The community leader warned that Ariko is now one of the last inhabited settlements within a five mile radius, with surrounding villages abandoned and some repurposed as bandit camps.

Frans Veerman, Managing Director of World Watch Research, has told Open Doors that the native Christian population of Southern Kaduna is being deliberately displaced, with at least 50,000 forced to relocate to IDP camps. Former Southern Kaduna Peoples Union president Jonathan Asake has accused the Kaduna State Government of colluding with Fulani ethnic militias to dispossess Christians of their ancestral lands.

The Crusader's Opinion

The Nigerian military did not rescue anyone. They showed up after the slaughter and let the media do the rest. Meanwhile 36 of our brothers and sisters sit in jihadist camps while their government lies about it. This is ethnic cleansing with a press release attached. If 36 Muslims were abducted from a mosque in a Western country on Ramadan, the UN would already have boots on the ground. The silence tells you whose blood the world considers cheap. Southern Kaduna is being emptied of Christians village by village, and the lie of rescue is just another nail in the coffin. Wake up, Church. Our family is being hunted.

Take Action

• Donate to The Shepherd's Shield to directly support persecuted Christians in Nigeria and beyond.
• Support Open Doors USA, which documents and assists displaced Christian communities in Southern Kaduna.
• Give to Voice of the Martyrs to fund emergency aid and church rebuilding in Nigerian conflict zones.
• Contact your U.S. Representative at house.gov and demand Nigeria be re designated as a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom violations.
• Call the Nigerian Embassy in Washington at (202) 516 4447 and demand honest reporting on the Ariko abductions and immediate action to free the 36 captives.
• Share this story with the hashtag #FreeArikoChristians to break the media blackout on Southern Kaduna.