The victims were travelling from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi for a church meeting when their convoy came under attack between Kotzim and Kotlen areas.
BY PC Bureau
May 6, 2026 – In a powerful joint show of outrage, the apex civil society organisation Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) have issued separate but strongly worded condemnations over the barbaric ambush on a delegation of senior Kuki Baptist church leaders and civilians between Kotzim and Kotlen areas on the Kangpokpi-Lamka road today.
The attack has left three church leaders dead — Rev. V. Sithou (Sitlhou), Rev. Kaigoulen (Kaigoulun), and Pastor Paogoulen (Paogou) — and five others critically injured. The victims were travelling from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi for an inter-association ecclesiastical meeting when their convoy was ambushed.
KIM described the incident as a “cowardly and barbaric ambush allegedly carried out by the ZUF-Kamson faction and VBIGs,” while KOHUR explicitly named cadres of the NSCN-IM in active collusion with the ZUF, calling it a “premeditated act of terrorism aimed squarely at the heart of Kuki peace-making.”
READ: Suspected Naga Militants Kill Three Kuki Church Leaders in Manipur
Peacemakers Gunned Down
Among the slain was Rev. V. Sithou, President of the Thadou Baptist Association and a respected peacemaker who had only recently led a high-level peace mission in Kohima alongside the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF).
The delegation also included other senior clergy from the Thadou Baptist Association (TBA) and the United Baptist Council (UBC): Rev. S.M. Haopu, Rev. Hekai Simte, Rev. Kaigoulun, Rev. Paothang, Pastor Paogou, and driver Goumang.
KIM’s press statement (Ref: 04/KIM/PR/25-14), issued from its Secretariat, expressed its “strongest condemnation and deepest anguish,” noting that Rev. Sithou had been actively working to foster peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding between the Kuki-Zo and Tangkhul Naga communities.
“It is therefore profoundly heartbreaking and enraging that a man who dedicated himself to peace and reconciliation should fall victim to such a merciless and calculated act of violence,” the KIM statement read.
READ: Suspected Naga Militants Kill Three Kuki Church Leaders in Manipur
Direct Assault on the Peace Process
Both organisations emphasised that the attack was not random but a deliberate strike on the fragile dialogue process between the Kuki-Zo and Naga communities. Church leaders from Nagaland and Manipur had been anchoring trust-building initiatives in an environment already strained by recurring violence and mistrust.
KOHUR’s strongly worded release stated: “These were not combatants. They were not political figures. They were unarmed servants of God who had laboured day and night… to build a bridge of reconciliation… The NSCN-IM has now answered with bullets.”
The human rights body further criticised the NSCN-IM’s long-standing slogan “Nagalim for Christ,” describing it as “a theological façade for ethnic supremacism, armed extortion, and now the calculated assassination of Christian leaders.”
Breaking KUKI BAPTIST LEADERS ALLEDEGLY AMBUSHED in KANGPOKPI-CCPur ROAD, 4 DEAD, SEVERAL CRITICALLY INJURED
Three Dead identified as Pu Vumthang Pastor Paogoulen Pastor Kaigoulun
4 grieviously injured pic.twitter.com/YPGVItAYKY
— Nibir Deka (@nibirdeka) May 13, 2026
Historical Context of Targeted Violence
KOHUR placed the incident within the larger historical pattern of aggression against the Kuki-Zo people, recalling the systematic ethnic cleansing campaign allegedly carried out by NSCN-IM cadres between 1992 and 1997, during which over 350 Kuki villages were destroyed, hundreds of civilians killed, and tens of thousands displaced.
The organisation accused the NSCN-IM of continuing such activities even under ceasefire cover by levying illegal taxes, restricting movement, and periodically resuming armed actions against Kuki civilians, with the ZUF allegedly acting as a proxy.
Urgent Demands for Justice and Accountability
Both KIM and KOHUR have called for immediate government action, including a thorough investigation by the Government of India and swift identification and prosecution of the perpetrators.
KOHUR has further demanded:
- Immediate registration of an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant laws against NSCN-IM and ZUF cadres.
- Suspension and review of the Ceasefire Agreement with NSCN-IM pending a judicial inquiry.
- Constitution of a high-level judicial commission, monitored by the NHRC, to probe the massacre and the unaddressed atrocities of 1992–97.
- Permanent deployment of Central Armed Police Forces along the Churachandpur–Kangpokpi corridor and highways traversing Kuki-Zo areas.
- Ex-gratia compensation, rehabilitation, and lifelong support for the bereaved families.
KIM urged the Kuki-Zo people to “remain united, vigilant, and steadfast,” while KOHUR called upon the global Christian community — including the World Council of Churches, the Vatican, the Baptist World Alliance, and major church bodies worldwide — to unequivocally condemn the killings and break their silence on the decades-long pattern of violence.
KOHUR concluded: “The blood of these peacemakers is now on the conscience of every institution that has, for thirty years, looked away… The age of impunity must end. It must end here. It must end now.”
Both organisations conveyed their deepest condolences to the bereaved families, the Thadou Baptist Association, the United Baptist Council, and the wider Christian fellowship, while praying for the speedy recovery of the critically injured.
The incident has sent shockwaves across the Kuki-Zo hills and is likely to further strain already fragile inter-community relations and ongoing peace initiatives.
