Pastors and members of various churches attended a Catholic funeral service on Saturday (Aug. 1) for 27 Christians massacred by suspected Fulani terrorists in Kaduna state, Nigeria, sources said.
A funeral for three evangelical Christians slain in the same attack in Naridon village Kauru County shortly before midnight on July 26 was held earlier last week, the source said.
“Twenty-seven victims of a deadly attack were laid to rest following a solemn funeral Mass attended by thousands of mourners,” the Rev. Abai Peter, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Pastors and members from other Christian denominations also joined in the funeral as a show of unity and solidarity with the bereaved families and the entire community.”
The funeral service was conducted by the Catholic Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, the Rev. Julius Yakubu Kundi, alongside dozens of other area priests, Peter said.
“The attackers invaded the village around midnight, unleashing violence that lasted for nearly two hours,” Peter said. “Homes were attacked, innocent residents were killed, and many others sustained injuries while several families were displaced. As the coffins were lowered into their final resting place, the village was overwhelmed by sorrow. Men, women, and children wept openly, mourning loved ones whose lives were cut short in the tragic assault. The painful cries of grieving relatives echoed across the burial ground, reflecting the deep wounds inflicted on the community.”
Victims of the attack included 10 women and 11 children, including a 3-year-old child, according to Christian support group Open Doors.
In his homily, Kundi said the attack “had nothing to do with reprisal, it is not boundary conflict but an act of criminality that government must work harder to prevent because this only happens in a country where there is no respect for the rule of law.”
He called on the faithful to remain steadfast in their trust in God despite the pain and suffering they were experiencing and urged people not to surrender to despair or hatred.
“God sees everything,” Kundi said. “He knows the pain of His people, and He will reward everyone according to their deeds. No act of evil escapes His judgment, and no sacrifice made in faith is forgotten before Him.”
Peter said Kundi encouraged bereaved families to find strength in the hope of the resurrection, reminding them that death does not have the final word for those who believe in Christ. He also appealed for continued prayers for peace and security in southern Kaduna and other communities affected by persistent attacks.
“People of goodwill from various denominations who attended the funeral offered prayers for the repose of the deceased and for God's consolation upon the grieving families,” Peter said. “They also called on government and security agencies to intensify efforts to protect vulnerable communities from recurring attacks.”
Area resident Barnabas Musa identified 28 of the Christians killed as Geoffrey Monday, Maria Pius, Ladi Monday, Tabawa Monday, Guntu Balla, Enock Balla, Markus Gashi, Mariyamu Joseph, Maria Istifanus, Nuhu Bulus, Bulus Markus, Ayalla Markus, Monday Danladi, Kaka Umaru, Gundumi Umaru, Joy Ali, Dominion Danladi, Danladi Ibrahim, Mama Ibrahim, Deborah Emmanuel, Friday Emmanuel, Yusuf Emmanuel, Yunana Emmanuel, Irimiya Emmanuel, Pheobe Markus, Saviour Monday, Audi Musa and Sunday Yakubu.
Wounded in the attack were Comfort Monday, Success Monday and James Emmanuel, he added.
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.
