In four years, 23 pastors have been slain in Kaduna State, the church leader says.
The attack on Dogon Noma village, Kajuru County, came amid disclosure that such attacks have led to the death of 23 pastors and the closure of 200 worship buildings in Kaduna state in the past four years.
Besides taking 15 lives, the assailants also kidnapped 32 Christians from Dogon Noma village, area residents said.
Moses Ishaya said he lost two relatives in the massacre.
He identified other Christians killed as Bala Laya and Gimbiya Coaster. Among others kidnapped, he named three abducted as Set Alkali, Saviour Christopher, and Sico Nicholas.
Ernest Maidawa, a youth leader in the area, urged government officials to take action urgently.
On Tuesday (Sept. 12), Christian leaders in Kaduna state met with police officials in Kaduna. They advised them that attacks by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have killed 23 Pasherderse abductions, 215 Christians are still in captivity, and 200 church worship buildings were closed in four years.
The Rev. Joseph Hayab, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) chairman, and Christian leaders from 23 Local Government Areas told Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Musa Garba and other senior officers that Christians have faced fierce persecution.
The meeting between Christian leaders and police officials was held at Albraka Baptist Church in Kaduna. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the relationship between the police and Christian leaders and for police to listen to their challenges and together find solutions, Garba said.
“Security is the responsibility of all and not only that of the government,” Garba told the Christian leaders. “While the government takes the lead in protecting lives and property, individuals are also expected to play their parts, particularly in providing information.”
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians being abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married, or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
In the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views. Still, some Fulani adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herders’ attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam, as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.