The village head, lured along with seven other Christians in central Nigeria, reportedly died on Monday (March 17).
Yuda Garba, head of the predominantly Christian Donaco village at Bwari Regional Council in Abuja in the Federal Capital Region (FCT), was lured by a suspected Fulani herdsman on March 11.
According to a X post posted on Monday (March 17) by Zagazola Makama, authorities said the agency’s efforts to find other victims have been strengthened.
The people who were accused of Galba early on March 11 were his grandchildren, Ephraim and Philemon, who identified another Christian as being identified as Nicholas and four other Christians, local residents said.
A band of armed herdsmen raided the village around midnight and broke into the house when the villagers slept and took them away at muzzle, village resident Tanko Baba said.
“One of the Christians I was invited to is my cousin Nicholas,” Baba told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “And the sad thing is that the bandits we believe are Fulani herdsmen, have lured the victims while they were sleeping in their homes.”
Josephine Ade, a spokesman for the Abuja Federal Capital Police Command, confirmed the incident.
“Police personnel are deployed in the area and they are on the mark of bandits,” Baba told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “Hopefully the victims will be rescued.”
On January 26th, in Kubwa, the predominantly Kikakol Christian community of Bwali Regional Council, he was lured into a suspected herdsmen shortly after 11pm, said local resident John Mark.
“The four victims are members of the family of Adeshyan Aquinolopo, a prominent Christian in the community,” Mark told Christian Daily International Morning Star News.
The bishop’s brother invited
In Antuna village in Kaduna province, Zangon Katafu County, the brothers of Pastor Matthew Hassan Kuka, a Catholic bishop of Sokoto Parish, were invited on March 5, sources said.
Ishaya Kukah was accused of six other Christians by “Frani Bandits” around 11pm, another brother, Samuel Kuka said.
“Among those who were invited are my younger brother Ishaya Kuka and six other women and children,” Samuel Kuka told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “They were taken away with force at the muzzle. The incident happened around 11pm while we were sleeping at home.”
Mansil Hassan, a spokesman for Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the incident.
“We know about the incident you’re looking for,” Hassan told Star News for Christian Daily International Morning. “The police commissioner has been briefed on that and efforts are underway to save the victims.”
With millions of figures in Nigeria and Sahel, Fulani, primarily Muslim, constitute hundreds of clans of many different lines that do not hold the views of extremists, while some Fulani adhere to radical Islamist ideology, all party parliamentary groups (Appgs) in the UK for international freedom or beliefs.
“They are clearly intent to adopt a comparable strategy for Boko Haram and Iswap and target strong symbols of Christian and Christian identity,” the AppG report said.
Nigerian Christian leaders say they believe herdsmen’s attacks on the Christian community in the mid-zone of Nigeria are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Islam as they forced Christian lands and made desertification difficult to maintain the flock.
According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, Nigeria has remained one of the most dangerous places for Christians. According to WWL, of the 4,476 Christians killed for faith around the world during the reporting period, 3,100 (69%) were in Nigeria.
“The scale of anti-Christian violence in this country is already at the highest possible level under the global watch list methodology,” the report states.
In the north-central zone of the country, where Christians are more common than they are in the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militias attack farm communities, killing hundreds of Christians and, above all, hundreds of Christians. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State (ISWAP) of West African states are also active in northern states in the country where federal control is poor and Christians and their communities continue to be targeted for attacks, sexual violence and the killing of disability. Ransom aid has been increasing significantly in recent years.
The violence spreads across southern states, with new jihadist terrorist group Lakrawa appearing in the northwest, armed with sophisticated weapons and an extremist agenda, WWL noted. Lakrawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda rebellion Jamaa Nusrat ul Islam Wa al-Muslimin, or Zinim, which is derived from Mali.
Nigeria ranked 7th in the 2025 WWL list of 50 worst countries for Christians.
