Last week, Nigerian Fulani assailants and other terrorists killed nine Christians in Plateau state and a pastor in Kaduna state, officials said.
In Kauru district of Kaduna state, Fulani assailants attacked the predominantly Christian village of Farin Dutse on October 28, killing Pastor Yahaya Kambasaya and abducting 20 church members, said Dan Gwamuna of his United Church of Christ in Nigeria (UCCN, also known as HEKAN) congregation.
“The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, October 28. A group of Muslim Fulani bandits armed with deadly weapons invaded Farin Dutse village, a Christian community, shot residents and burnt down houses,” Gwamuna said in a message.
Pastor Kambasaya was serving under the denomination’s Kauru District Church Council. HEKAN leaders confirmed the killing of a pastor and the abduction of 20 church members. In a press statement, HEKAN chairman Pastor Amos Kiri called the attack “callous, inhumane and evil.”
Pastor Kiri said Muslim Fulani extremists and terrorists were targeting Christian communities and pastors in northwestern Nigeria.
“The bandits invaded the community and started shooting sporadically,” Pastor Kiri said. “Pastor Kambasaya and several others took shelter in a nearby farm. Thinking the gunmen had left, they came out of hiding, but were only shot in the back. The bullet pierced their chest, killing them instantly.”
Gwamuna asked for prayers for the church.
“Please pray for the HEKAN (UCCN) church members, especially the members of the Kauru District Church Council, regarding the murder of our pastor, Pastor Yahaya Kambasaya, and the abduction of 20 church members,” he said. “Please pray for the release of the prisoners.”
plateau attack
In neighboring Plateau state, “bandits and terrorist elements” killed one Christian, Joseph Dauda Mwanti, 28, and injured another, Joshua Mwambwane, 33, in the village of Welen on Monday (3 November), said Dalyop Solomon Mwanthiri, a Christian lawyer in the area.
“We are once again in tears over the act of terrorism that occurred in Weren community in Riyom LGA at around 9pm on November 3 by bandits and terrorist elements operating in Fasu settlement in Jor community,” Mwanthiri said in a statement. “These incidents occurred despite prior early warning warnings being issued to the relevant authorities.”
Riyom Local Government Area Council Chairman Sati Batule Shuwa called the attack “heartbreaking and unacceptable”.
“This administration’s pride lies in the welfare and safety of its citizens, and we will not slacken in our constitutional obligation to protect the lives and property of all our citizens,” Schwa said in a statement.
Chris Giwa, a diplomat and leader in the region, also spoke about early warning to officials.
“I am outraged and disappointed by the attack on Wellen community in Riyom LGA that left one person dead and two others injured,” Giwa said. “This heinous act occurred despite early warnings about the vulnerability of the community to such attacks. It is especially unfortunate that this incident occurred just one week after I visited Welleng to reconcile with the community and encourage them to take a firm stand against the looters who seek to displace the community and grab their land.”
Mr Giwa called for a comprehensive review of the security apparatus to deal with the systematic attacks on the people of Plateau.
“Armed Fulani militia” killed eight Christians on Friday and Saturday (October 31-November 1) in the Christian-majority Kwi village a few miles from Wellen, community leader Ruwan Tengwon said.
“On Friday, October 31, a Kwi community was attacked by armed Fulani militia,” Tenwon said. “Seven Christians were murdered that Friday, and another Christian was murdered on a farm on Saturday, November 1st.”
The Fulani, a predominantly Muslim group of millions in Nigeria and the Sahel region, are made up of hundreds of clans of various lineages that do not hold extremist views, although some Fulani espouse radical Islamist ideology, Britain’s All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) said in a 2020 report.
“They have adopted strategies comparable to Boko Haram and ISWAP, and have demonstrated a clear intent to target Christians and powerful symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report said.
Christian leaders in Nigeria say they believe herdsmen’s attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by a desire to forcibly occupy Christian lands and impose Islam, as desertification makes it difficult to maintain herds.
Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the Most Difficult Countries to Be a Christian. According to WWL, of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith around the world during the reporting period, 3,100 (69 percent) were in Nigeria.
“Countermeasures against anti-Christian violence in this country have already reached maximum levels based on the Global Watch List methodology,” the report said.
The report said that in the north-central region, which has a larger Christian population than the northeast and northwest, Fulani Islamist militias attacked rural villages, killing hundreds of people, especially Christians. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern provinces, which are poorly controlled by the federal government, and Christians and their communities continue to be targeted for attacks, sexual violence, and barricaded killings, the report said. Kidnappings for ransom have increased significantly in recent years.
Violence has spread to southern provinces, and in the northwest a new jihadist terrorist group, Laklawa, has emerged with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, WWL said. Raqlawa is affiliated with Jamaah Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslim (JNIM), an expansionist al-Qaeda rebel group originating from Mali.
Nigeria ranked 7th on the 2025 WWL list of the 50 most difficult countries to be a Christian.
