Fulani assailants on Tuesday (Oct. 6) broke into homes near the capital of Kaduna state and kidnapped five Christians and a 6-month-old baby, sources said.
The assailants abducted the Christians in home break-ins that began at 3 a.m. in the Rahusa Estate residential area of Millennium City, Chikun County, near Kaduna city, said area resident Linda Paul.
“Two women were among the kidnapped victims, a pregnant woman and another woman with a 6-month-old baby,” Paul told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “In one of the houses, three members of a family were kidnapped – a man, his wife and daughter. The bandits are demanding a ransom of 350 million naira [$263,000] for this family of three to be released.”
Paul said the “Fulani bandits” surrounded and broke into her home, but she and her family were able to escape.
“I know the bandits who invaded our community to be Muslim bandits,” she said. “At the time they were attacking us, we heard them communicating with each other in Fulfulde, the Fulani language.”
Suspected Fulanis also attacked Chikun County’s Ungwan Waziri village, near Karji, on Oct. 1, killed a Christian and kidnapped several others, said resident Grey Akans.
“A Christian man was killed, and several other Christians were kidnapped,” Akan said. “A 9-year-old boy and his uncle were kidnapped, leaving the mother of the kidnapped boy in distress.”
Christians in Chikun said they are worried about a surge in Christians killed or kidnapped.
“The bandits entered an apartment in Ungwan Waziri area of Chikun Local Government Area, along Yakowa road, close to Shema filling station, took their time to successfully break the wall and abducted people,” resident Grace Bamaiyi told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Other affected communities are Maraban Rido and Bagado. Four families were kidnapped by the bandits.”
In Chikun County’s predominantly Christian Babban Saura area on the outskirts of Kaduna city, suspected Fulanis armed with deadly weapons on Oct. 1 killed a man at about 1 a.m. and abducted others, said resident Joshua Yakubu.
“A man was killed, while his wife, children, and other residents were kidnapped,” Yakubu said. “They remain in captivity.”
Christian residents say unceasing attacks by Fulani gunmen has made it difficult for them to attend church worship services.
“Christians have been under serious and series of attacks lately – when night approaches, sleep automatically disappears from our eyes because we don’t know when and where the next attack will come from,” said area resident Zipporah Felix.
Another resident, Andrew Lawal, said unending killings and kidnappings that continue to ravage Christian communities in Kaduna state have plunged many Christians into abject poverty, leaving countless families struggling to survive.
“The recent wave of attacks across several Christian communities in Chikun Local Government Area is a clear testament to the unfortunate realities bedeviling most communities in the southern part of Kaduna state, which has predominantly Christian communities,” Lawal said. “Christians have continued to grapple with the constant fear of terror attacks that threaten their safety and well-being.”
Resident Isaac Kwassau said Christians are being kidnapped and killed every day in the area.
“The killings of Christians in Kaduna state by Muslim bandits is the most senseless thing in recent times,” Kwassau said. “Innocent lives are being wasted.”
Resident Alexandra Caleb added, “We can’t sleep anymore because of gunshots every night.”
Taraba State Church Building Burned
In Taraba state’s Jauro Gana village in Ardo Kola County, a brawl between Muslims and Christians at a gaming spot on Sept. 25 led to Muslims setting a church building ablaze and attacking a pastor on Sept. 26, sources said.
The Muslims reportedly ransacked the United Methodist Church in Nigeria (UMCN) building, destroying pews, windows and musical instruments.
Taraba State Police Command spokesman Victor Mshelizah said a misunderstanding occurred between Muslims and Christians and a fight erupted on Sept. 25.
“The conflict created tension and snowballed the following day, Saturday, 26 September, resulting in the attack on the pastor and the United Methodist Church in Nigeria worship building,” Mhelizah said in a statement.
Police have begun investigating, and two suspects have been arrested, he said.
More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, according to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during that period, 3,490 – 72 percent – were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
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 United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen 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.
In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.
The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist Al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.
