The Evangelical Church Winning All has said about 807 members of the church were kidnapped in 2022.
The members according to the church were kidnapped in various attacks by bandits in the Kajuru local government area of Kaduna state in 2022 alone.
A news report monitored on Channels Television by Church Times indicated that several other members including the church’s Pastors were among the victims.
The church disclosed that 70 other members are still being held hostage by bandits with their whereabouts still unknown
The Chairman of ECWA Kasuwan Magani District Council, Reverend Timothy Maigida according to the report disclosed in a press conference that most of the attacks took place inside the churches when members were observing their weekly or Sunday services.
He lamented that the increasing rate of banditry and kidnapping has affected both religious and socioeconomic activities in the area.
He then pleaded with the security agencies to be more proactive and to increase “their presence in rural areas where most of the bandits’ attacks take place, while also calling on the government to pay attention to the welfare of the thousands of displaced people scattered across the area.”
About ECWA
Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) started with the story of Mrs. Margaret (Craig) Gowans a Scottish Canadian who had a burden for the unreached communities in the then Sudan. Her biological son, Walter answered the call of God to go and serve as a missionary to Sudan. Walter embarked on this trip with two other young men, Thomas Kent and Rowland Bingham.
Two of them lost their lives within a year of their arrival in Nigeria. The only surviving nearly died of malaria later when he returned to Canada. But their efforts in 1893 gave birth to the organization called Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) now known as Serving in Missions.
Another attempt to enter Sudan in 1900 led by Bingham along with Albert Taylor and A.J Moline was also unsuccessful This time there was no loss of human life, but ill health and discouragement kept the mission from a successful entry into Sudan.
The third attempt was however successful. Between 1901 – 1910, the following stations were established: Patigi, Bida, Wushishi, Egbe, Paiko, Kpada, Kwoi, and Karu. Other stations were established thereafter. The church has since spread mostly in the North of Nigeria and the middle belt. The church has been the point of attack for the insurgents.
