The captors have demanded 350 million naira, about $263,000, for the release of one family of three: a man, his wife and their small daughter. A pregnant woman was also taken. Local accounts differ on the exact hour of the raid and on how many were seized. Police had not confirmed the ransom demand, and no release had been announced as of this writing.
The kidnapping came days after another attack in the same state. On October 1, suspected Fulani gunmen struck Ungwan Waziri village in Chikun County, near Karji. Local sources said a Christian man was killed and several others were taken away. Kidnapping for ransom has grown into a steady trade across Kaduna and neighboring states, and Christian communities in the region have counted many losses to it in recent years.
For a family of ordinary means, 350 million naira is beyond reach. It is a sum that few in the country could raise in a week. The baby is the age when a child needs her mother's arms and her mother's milk. Somewhere tonight, a man and wife are counting hours in a place they did not choose, with an infant between them.
What a ransom note cannot reach
A kidnapper believes he holds everything. He holds the door, the road, the clock and the price. He thinks the matter is closed because the family has no money and no army. Nigerian believers know that picture well, and many of them have lived it.
But the Bible never tells us that a prison wall is where God's reach ends. Joseph was sold by his own brothers and carried to Egypt in a stranger's caravan. Daniel was marched off to Babylon as a captive. Paul wrote some of his greatest letters with a Roman guard chained to his wrist. None of them was forgotten, and none was out of God's sight.
"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18)
Read that slowly, my friend. It does not say the Lord is near the strong, or near those who feel brave. It says He is near the broken-hearted. A mother who cannot hold her baby tonight is not far from Him. She is exactly where He promised to be.
The Scripture also gives the church at home a job to do. "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them," says Hebrews 13:3. That is a command, and it reaches across oceans. Christians in America have a government that can speak plainly to Abuja, and a freedom to write, to call and to give that the captives do not have. Our leaders have been right to press Nigeria on the killing and kidnapping of believers, and they should keep pressing it. The Lord holds rulers to account for how they treat the helpless, and He will do the same with the men who hold this family.
The wicked do not get the last word, though they act as if they will. Christ stood before a rigged court and a Roman governor who claimed power over His life. He did not argue about a ransom. He went to the cross for the very men who held Him, and on the third day He rose, and the grave lost its claim on everyone who trusts Him. That is why Christians can grieve without despair. Death itself, the last jailer, has been beaten.
To those who hold the keys in Kaduna, hear this plainly: every child is made in the image of God. A six-month-old is not a bargaining chip. The One who formed her will ask about her, and no hidden camp and no border will keep the matter from Him. There is still time to turn, to open the door, and to send them home. Repentance is open to the kidnapper as it is to anyone. The gospel does not exclude him. It calls him to put down the weapon and bow.
And to the family waiting out the hours: you are not forgotten. Your name is known in heaven, and so is your baby's.