The Nollywood actress, Bukola Arugba, has expressed deep distress, revealing that three of her close family members are among those taken during the recent attack on a church in Kwara state.
The actress, whose full name is Oluwabukola Awoyemi, was responding to conflicting narratives suggesting the incident was merely an “attempted” assault.
A video circulated on Tuesday showing armed men storming a branch of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Oke Isegun, Eruku community, Kwara state. Reports indicate that several worshippers were abducted during the incident.
In an Instagram video, Arugba — who is originally from Eruku — reacted directly to a statement attributed to Olufolake AbdulRazaq, the Kwara first lady, which appeared to downplay the attack.
She presented a contrasting version of events, insisting the attack was both successful and fatal.
She said:
“I read a press release on the Kwara state First Lady’s page regarding the bandit attack in my home, Eruku, Ekiti LGA, Kwara state, which totally contradicts the sad truth. This video is to address and correct the report released on your page, Madam. The information you got from the Kwara state police is false.”
Arugba continued:
“This involves my people directly. We all saw the video, they were streaming live while the church program was going on. It was a successful attack, not an attempted attack. I was in so much pain when I saw the release that it was an attempted attack, that nobody died, and that people were in the hospital. A lot of people were abducted; three people are dead.”
She identified two of her abducted relatives as Titi Balogun, her mother’s younger sister, and Ebenezer Aina, her cousin’s son.
Arugba stressed that her account is based on real-time updates from those in her hometown, accusing authorities of misrepresenting the situation.
She said:
“I have spoken to a lot of people from my town, my cousins, my uncles. Presently, three to four of my cousins are in the bandits’ den, they have been abducted. Evangelist Titi Balogun is right there, she is my mum’s younger sister. Ebenezer Aina is presently there, that is my cousin’s son. So, it was a successful attack, and not an attempted one as the Kwara first lady claimed.”
She added that her community is in despair, unsure of the fate of the kidnapped victims.
“Everyone is crying in my town now because we don’t even know if they will be found dead or alive. It is so painful that we are seeing what we saw on your page, the reports on your page are false. It totally contradicts what actually happened.”