The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the initial denial by the police of the abduction of residents in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, describing it as shameful and deeply troubling.
Gunmen had attacked three churches in the community on Sunday, abducting over 100 worshippers during church services. However, on Monday, the Kaduna State Police Command dismissed the reports, labelling them as falsehoods spread by “conflict entrepreneurs” bent on disrupting the state’s relative peace.
The state commissioner of police, Muhammad Rabiu, had challenged those reporting the incident to provide names and details of the victims, insisting there was no record of any abduction.
Following the denial, Christian Solidarity Worldwide–Nigeria (CSW-N) said the kidnappings did occur and accused security operatives of obstructing efforts to independently verify the incident. On Tuesday, the Nigeria Police Force confirmed the abductions, with its spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, announcing that tactical and intelligence assets had been deployed to rescue the victims.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, PDP spokesperson Ini Ememobong criticised what he described as the federal government’s silence and the “outright denial” by the Kaduna police command and the Kajuru LGA chairman. He said the response reflected a dangerous pattern in the administration’s handling of insecurity and a deliberate attempt to obscure the truth from Nigerians.
Ememobong said the denials were not only false but also deeply hurtful, noting that villagers had alerted the police immediately after the kidnappings occurred. He accused the authorities of prioritising the government’s image over the safety of about 163 Nigerians.
He called the episode a public betrayal and failed cover-up, urging the Kaduna police command and the Kajuru LGA chairman to apologise to Nigerians. The PDP also called on the federal government to urgently deploy a high-powered security team to locate, rescue, and safely return the abducted victims to their families.