SW News: Christians in the Nigerian state of Kaduna were in mourning on Monday, April 17, when 33 believers killed by jihadi herdsmen on Sunday were laid to rest. The funeral service was led by Bishop Jacob Kwashi of the Anglican Diocese of Zonkwa.

During the funeral oration, the bishop said, "In the past seven and half years, we in southern Kaduna have seen the handiwork of the evil ones who have decided that they'll keep releasing evil on us in our land until we don't know when they'll stop.”

The attack began on Saturday night in the Christian-majority village of Runji in Zangon Kataf County and lasted until the early hours of Sunday. "It has always been obvious and clear that the government is capable and able to stop this evil, be it the government of Kaduna state or the government of Nigeria, they're capable, they're able to stop this evil, but the truth is that, are they ready and willing to stop this evil?" asked the Anglican bishop.

According to a statement issued by the general secretary of the Evangelical Church Winning All Rev Bauta Motty, this is the third attack on the village in a week. He said that 40 houses were destroyed in the attack and many people were injured. "Before then, two Christians were killed four days earlier in that same village," Motty said, adding that "This is beside the 17 Christians killed four days ago at Atak Njei village."

Council official of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area Francis Sani said that the assailants burned and maimed mostly women and children while torching houses. Many villagers are suffering from various degrees of burns and property worth millions has been destroyed. State spokesperson Samuel Aruwan said that the military had a fierce encounter with the attackers and is still in the general area.

In a separate incident, eight Nigerian secondary school students of Kaduna’s northern part abducted by an armed gang two weeks ago managed to escape from captivity. They were discovered by local villagers on Tuesday and they alerted the armed forces.

Eight Nigerian secondary school students kidnapped by gunmen in northern Kaduna state two weeks ago escaped from their captors and were found by villagers who alerted security forces on Tuesday. The female students were taken by armed men while they were returning from school on April 4. After managing to escape from their captors, the girls walked for days at a stretch before being discovered by the villagers.