Amnesty International has raised fresh alarm over the fate of 37 worshippers abducted from churches during Easter Sunday services on April 5, 2026, who remain in captivity nearly five months later, as the rights group reports a mounting death toll among captives held in related attacks.
The abductions took place during raids on churches in the Ariko community of Kachia Local Government Area in southern Kaduna State, an incident Amnesty International described as one of many demonstrating the Nigerian authorities’ persistent failure to protect citizens.
The organization disclosed that three of 11 people abducted from the neighboring Awon community have died in captivity within the past week. Joy Samuel, a woman among the captives, died on August 28 after giving birth under what Amnesty International called deplorable conditions; the infant she delivered also did not survive. Separately, Yusuf Bawa, 34, and his five-year-old son died as a result of severe illness and hunger while in captivity.
Amnesty International said the deaths and worsening illness among those held reflect the severity of abuse captives continue to face, noting that abductees are routinely threatened with death, starved, beaten, and subjected to other forms of dehumanizing treatment, with women and girls facing rape.
The rights group warned that recurring attacks, ransom abductions, and killings continue to devastate life across large parts of southern Kaduna, fueling a climate of fear that is disrupting farming, education, and broader social and economic life in the region.
Amnesty International called on the Nigerian government to meet its national and international human rights obligations by intensifying efforts to secure the safe release and return of the 37 worshippers abducted in Kachia, as well as all others still being held by armed groups across the country.
