"Gunmen known locally as bandits arrived in the village in numbers, armed with AK47 rifles. They broke down doors and ordered people out of their homes and the village's three churches. They blocked the village exits before taking people and marching dozens into the forest at gunpoint. Some captives were taken from church, while others were forcibly kidnapped as gunmen moved from house to house. In one house, more than 30 members of an extended family were abducted."
"Jummai Idris, a relative of the family that was taken, remains inconsolable. She was home the day of the attack and did not go out. When I heard shouting, I took two children and we hid behind a house. That was how they [the bandits] missed us, she told Al Jazeera. But I heard every shout, every cry and footstep as they picked up people from our house and surrounding houses, she added, between sobs."
"With tears streaming down her face, Idris recounts how she kept calling out the names of her missing family members men, women and children. Her house sits on the edge of the village, close to a bandits' crossing point. I don't know what they are doing to them now. I don't know if they've eaten or not, she said. A total of 177 people were abducted that day. Eleven escaped their captors, but about a quarter of Kurmin Wali's population remains captive."
On January 18, gunmen armed with AK47 rifles stormed Kurmin Wali in Kaduna State, breaking into homes and the village's three churches. Attackers blocked exits and marched dozens into the forest at gunpoint, abducting a total of 177 people and taking more than 30 members of one extended family. Eleven captives escaped, but roughly a quarter of the village remains in captivity. Survivors and relatives report hiding, hearing cries and fearing for those taken. One household on the village edge is close to a bandits' crossing point, leaving families anxious and unsure of the captives' welfare.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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