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A Seminarian identified as Bro. Stephen Naman Ngofe was on Thursday night burnt beyond recognition when bandits attacked and set ablaze St. Raphael Catholic Parish House, Kamanton, Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The Parish in Kamantan is under the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area.
It was gathered that the deceased seminarian, Stephen, died from the smoke he inhaled while trying to escape from the grasp of the attackers. His remains had since been deposited in the mortuary.
Two others, who were also in the building when the incident happened, escape the inferno and kidnap attempt by the attackers.
The survivors are Monday Noah, the Assistant Parish Priest, and Emmanuel Okolo, the Parish Priest.
Vanguard reports that when contacted, the Kaduna State Police Command Acting Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Alhassan, confirmed the incident.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Rev. John Hayab, also confirmed the incident to the Punch.
“It is very sad that killings and this type of evil are still going on,” Hayab reportedly said.
There has been an upscale in the attacks on religious centres in Kaduna by bandits, lately. Barely a week ago, seven people were killed during a mosque attack by bandits at Saya Saya village in Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Police authorities in the state confirmed the incident and the casualty figure. The acting Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna Police Command, Mansir Alhassan, told Channels TV that the bandits invaded the mosque when the worshippers were observing the Isha’i (Sunset) prayers, and opened fire on them.
In the process, the assailants killed seven of them including the leader of a vigilante group in the community.
He explained that the bandits had trailed the vigilante leader to the mosque where he went to pray, and opened fire on him once sighted.
Alhassan further disclosed that security has been beefed up in the area and surrounding communities by a combined team of policemen and soldiers, while efforts are in top gear to arrest the bandits.
The latest attack comes on the heels of the state government’s recruitment of 7,000 youths into the Kaduna Vigilance Service to complement the efforts of federal security agencies in tackling insecurity in the state.
Kaduna is one of the states in the North West region that is worst hit by banditry.
Despite repeated assurances by the government as well as efforts by security agencies, the gun-wielding bandits continue to wreak havoc in the region. They have also been notorious for mass school abductions, and maintain camps in a vast forest straddling the states of Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Katsina.
North-West and central Nigeria have for years been terrorised by bandits who raid remote villages where they kill and abduct residents for ransom, as well as burn homes after looting them.