A Washington-based non-governmental organisation, Equipping the Persecuted, has provided assistance to a wounded man, three rape survivors and an 11-month-old baby whose mother was abducted by gunmen in Southern Kaduna.
The interventions, carried out between September 29 and October 5, 2026, covered communities in Kajuru, Kachia and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, where attacks and abductions by armed groups have continued.
An ETP field team led by its official, Mike Odeh James, provided medical and financial support to the victims, while additional relief materials were distributed to residents of Janhurya community in Kajuru LGA, which the organisation said had been under siege for about two months.
On September 29, suspected militia members attacked 28-year-old Zakaria Mani in Maro, Kajuru LGA, leaving him seriously injured. After residents reportedly fled the area, James intervened and took him to a nearby clinic, with ETP subsequently paying for his treatment and medication. The organisation returned on October 4 to check on his condition and provide additional funds for his care.
The same day, ETP also assisted three women who were allegedly raped while being held captive in kidnappers’ camps around Rijana, a known kidnapping corridor along the Kaduna-Abuja highway. Their identities were withheld, while each survivor received financial support to establish a small business.
The organisation said the women had faced further hardship after their release, including stigma, abandonment by spouses and the burden of caring for children without adequate income or community support.
In Maraban Rido, Chikun LGA, ETP also provided assistance for Amazing, an 11-month-old girl whose mother, Janet Moses, was abducted on September 21 in Maruba community and remained in captivity two weeks later. The baby had been left in the care of her grandparents and father, who reportedly struggled to afford infant formula and had resorted to feeding her pap.
ETP founder, Judd Saul, provided the family with money to purchase appropriate infant food and other necessities, as well as a bag of rice.
The organisation also distributed cash and rice to residents of Janhurya on October 5, with beneficiary Luka Bala alleging that armed men had prevented farmers from accessing their fields and abducted some residents, raising fears of food shortages as the farming season ends.
