The head of the Union of Christian Churches said that 172 people were kidnapped by armed men, nine of whom later escaped.

The police are here Kaduna State, Nigeria Armed bandits allegedly kidnapped dozens of villagers over the weekend but initially denied the incident.

Nigeria National Police spokesman Benjamin Houndeyin said in a statement on Tuesday night that a “kidnapping” incident did occur on Sunday and that police had launched a security operation with “a clear focus on locating and safely rescuing the victims and restoring calm to the area.”

Hindein said earlier denials by officials and others were “to prevent unnecessary panic when the facts are confirmed.” The police statement did not say how many people had been kidnapped.

Kaduna state lawmaker Usman Danlami Stingo told The Associated Press that the number of missing people was 168.

Pastor John Hayab, president of the Christian Council of Nigeria in the north of the country, told Reuters by phone on Monday that at least 172 believers were kidnapped, nine of whom later escaped, and 163 are still missing.

Sunday’s attack was the latest in a wave of mass kidnappings targeting Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Gangs known as “bandits” in Nigeria often carry out large-scale kidnappings for ransom and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central regions of Africa’s most populous country.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reported from the village of Kurminwali in Kaduna state that dozens of gunmen attacked the village on Sunday as people gathered at three churches to pray and kidnapped a quarter of its residents.

“Two days after the attack, the community received requests,” Idris said.

“The gangsters want the return of the 10 missing motorcycles they hid in the bushes. Currently, this is a condition for releasing the captives. But Kurmin Valley residents say they don’t know where the bikes are and they have been looted to the point where many cannot even afford to eat,” he said.

In November, armed groups More than 300 teachers and students detained Fifty people escaped from a Catholic school in the country’s Niger state, and the rest were released in two batches a few weeks later.

Nigeria, roughly evenly split between the predominantly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north, has been the site of numerous conflicts that experts say often kill Christians and Muslims indiscriminately.

But US President Donald Trump is concerned about Nigeria’s security situation, focusing on the killing of Christians and putting diplomatic pressure on Abuja.

In late December, the United States launched an attack on what it and the Nigerian government said were armed groups in the northwestern state of Sokoto.

Nigeria said it approved of the attack.