The pace of Killings Increases in Christian Areas of Nigeria

Kaduna state governor meets with leaders as crisis deepens.

Ames Bitrus, Christian leader of the Dnata Chiefdom in predominantly Christian Kagarko County in southern Kaduna State, said Muslim terrorists killed more than 100 Christians in the area over the past four months.

More than 100 Christians were also kidnapped as terrorists killed 25 Christians in the first part of January, he said.

“These figures do not include those kidnapped in the past year,” said Bitrus, whose Dnata Chiefdom has headquarters in Gujeni town.

Sani, who took office in May, told the leaders that the purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm how to curtail recent attacks in the areas of Kauru, Kajuru, Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Chikun, Kachia, Kagarko, and Kaduna-Abuja Road. He acknowledged that some parts of the state have become enclaves for terrorist activities.

He said Chikun, Giwa, and Igabi have also become areas of concern.

“The Kauru general area has equally witnessed a resurgence of deadly attacks and kidnappings in recent weeks around Dokan Karji stretching into Kajuru and also Kachia from the Bishini general area,” Sani said.

“Six Christians were kidnapped at Maraban Idda area on Saturday, Jan. 13, and up to this very moment, those kidnapped are in captivity,” he said.

Many Christians in the Gida Biyu village area were also kidnapped, he said.

“These terrorists are attacking Christians day and night, and they are raiding villages,” Bitrus said. “And we have complained to the government and security agencies about our plight, but nothing has been done.”

Islamic terrorists have established enclaves in the Kajuru forests, among other sites, he said.

“Security agencies know this, but nothing has been done to curtail these terrorists’ activities against our communities,” Bitrus said. “We are calling on the Kaduna state and Nigerian governments to collaborate towards saving us from the threat of extinction from terrorist attacks. We plead that a military base be established in our area so that these terrorist attacks can be curtailed.”

More kidnappings of Christians took place in Nigeria, with 3,300, than in any other country, and it remained the deadliest place to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, according to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as in the previous year.

Numbering 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 do 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 herdsmen’s 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.