On Tuesday evening, November 18, 2025, terror struck the quiet town of Eruku in Kwara State's Ekiti Local Government Area.
Armed bandits stormed the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Oke Isegun during a lively evening service, firing indiscriminately and turning a place of worship into a scene of chaos and bloodshed.
At least five worshippers were killed on the spot, with reports varying from two to five deaths. The horror was partially captured on the church's live-stream video, showing panicked congregants scrambling as gunshots echoed.
The attackers didn't stop at violence. They rounded up around 38 members – men, women, and possibly young girls among them – and marched them into the surrounding forests. Community leaders say the gunmen grouped victims by family ties for easier ransom negotiations.
By Thursday, November 20, the kidnappers started calling relatives using the victims' own phones. Their demand? A staggering N100 million per person – totaling up to N3.8 billion. For poor churchgoers, that's an impossible sum, leaving families in despair.
As fear grips Eruku, something even more outrageous emerged. One of the suspected bandits reportedly posted a video on TikTok, brazenly bragging about the kidnapping. In the clip, he flaunts weapons or cash, dares the Nigerian military to come rescue "the girls," and mocks security forces with impunity.
This isn't the first time bandits use social media to taunt authorities – they dance unmasked, show off ransom money, and threaten openly. It's a humiliating slap to our military, operating freely while troops comb forests and 900 additional soldiers were deployed to Kwara on presidential orders.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq visited the community, promising more action, but residents whisper: how can these criminals film and post without fear? As searches continue and arrests of suppliers hit kidnap networks, one question lingers – when will this end?
Families pray for their loved ones' safe return. Nigeria watches, heartbroken and angry.
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