Two Christians killed and Pastor kidnapped in Nasarawa

December 6, 2024 EMMANUEL ADEBAYO AJIBOLA

According to eyewitnesses, a herdsmen attack occurred in a community in Nigeria’s central city, Abuja, resulting in the deaths of two Christians and the kidnapping of a pastor.

Moses Bello, a resident of the area, recounted the incident that one of the victims by name, Barnabas Para, who was killed in Gwanje village, Akwanga, Nasarawa State, had sat with other neighbours in front of his house before he was shot and killed.

He said “At about 8 p.m., I was resting in my house when I heard gunshots,” Bello told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News by phone. “A neighbour ran into my house and said some armed herdsmen shot at them as they were in front of the house of our neighbour, Barnabas Para. When the attackers left, we went to the scene of the shooting and found Barnabas dead.”

He added that the armed men had captured one other resident, Okigwe Gajere, but he manoeuvred and returned home.

He went further by also recounting the past herdsmen attack on Nov. 28, which was predominantly in Christian Ningo village, 2 kilometres from Gwanje, kidnapping Pastor Charles Joshua of Living Faith Church and three other Christians.

Another resident of Ntsakpe, Francis, recounted that the armed men had also killed a Christian and wounded another person the same evening in Ntsakpe village, which is just 3 kilometres away from where the first incident occurred.

He recounted, The gunmen attacked a neighbour’s house and killed a Christian by the name of Mr. Sule,” he added. “While Mr. Zamani, another Christian, was also shot and injured and is hospitalised at OLA [Our Lady of Apostles] Hospital, Akwanga.”

He added that Ntsakpe is located at the Alushi junction in the Akwanga Local Government Area.

The media adviser to the Akwanga Local Government Council, Nathaniel Maaji Lauji, verified the attacks in Akwanga LGA.

He explained “We received reports about these attacks from Gwanje, Ntsakpe, Ningo, and Goho communities,” Lauji told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News by phone. “These incidents occurred on Sunday, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., sending shockwaves throughout these communities. Our thoughts are with the affected families.”

A lecturer at Nasarawa University, Akyala Ishaku, on his Facebook handle, reported that a security aide to a former member of the National Assembly in Goho village was shot and killed in the kidnapping of Joseph Haruna Kigbu and his wife on Sunday as they were on their way to Jos.

His post: “His police detail was killed alongside him. Pray for his safety.”

According to the Open Doors 2024 World Watch List (WWL), Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.

Nigeria was also the third-highest country in several attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750.

Nigeria was also ranked No. 6 in the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is hard to practice Christianity, as it was in the previous year.

The United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report that 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, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology.

The APPG report states, “They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity.”

Christian leaders in Nigeria have expressed concerns that attacks by herdsmen on Christian communities in the country’s Middle Belt are driven by an agenda to seize land from Christians and impose Islam. They attribute this to challenges faced by herdsmen in sustaining their herds due to deforestation.