Two Catholic priests in Nigeria’s Benue State have been targeted in separate incidents, with one injured in a gun attack and another released after five days in captivity.
The Rev. Peter Kwen, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko, was attacked by armed men on Friday, 6 November, in the Zaki Biam area of Benue State.
Local resident Titus Kaase told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that Kwen was travelling along the Makurdi-Zaki Biam Road after visiting Makurdi when gunmen ambushed him at around midnight.
Kaase said the attackers left the priest unconscious and injured by the roadside. He added that Kwen survived the attack and that prayers were being offered for his recovery and protection.
The assault came weeks after another Catholic priest, the Rev. John Inalegwu Otache of the Diocese of Otukpo, was kidnapped.
Otache was seized on 13 October along the Otobi Amejo-Ajegbe Road and released on 18 October.
The Rev. Joseph Itodo, chancellor of the Diocese of Otukpo, thanked clergy, church members and others who had prayed for the priest’s safe return. He said the diocese’s bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Ekwoyi Apochi, appreciated the support shown during the ordeal.
In a statement, Itodo also called for the safe release of other people being held by criminal groups across Nigeria.
Christian leaders have increasingly been among those affected by kidnappings and other violence in Nigeria. However, civilians from different religious communities have also been victims.
A report by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) and the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) recorded 34,773 civilian abductions in Nigeria between October 2019 and September 2025. It also documented 4,590 attacks involving abductions during that period.
The report said 73 per cent of civilians abducted in attacks on their communities were either killed or disappeared.
It also recorded 42,033 civilian deaths over the six-year period. Of these, 22,835 victims were Christians and 10,519 were Muslims.
Open Doors has warned that violence is severely affecting Christian communities in Nigeria. Its 2026 World Watch List reported that 3,490 Christians were killed in Nigeria for their faith between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. This represented 72 per cent of the 4,849 Christians reported killed worldwide during that period.
Nigeria was ranked seventh among the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
However, reports on the violence also caution against assuming that every attack is driven by religious hatred. Open Doors, drawing on ORFA data, noted that the reasons behind attacks can be complex and may involve religious, ethnic, economic and environmental factors. In some cases, the religious identity of victims could not be confirmed.
Armed groups operating in Nigeria include Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and various armed Fulani groups. The activities and motives of these groups differ.
A 2020 report by the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief said that some Fulani militants had adopted tactics similar to those used by Boko Haram and ISWAP and had shown an intention to attack Christians and symbols of Christian identity.
The report also stressed that Fulani communities are diverse. Most Fulani people are not extremists, although some individuals and armed groups have adopted radical Islamist beliefs.
Christian leaders have said that attacks on farming communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are linked to attempts to seize land and impose Islam. These claims form part of wider disputes involving farmers, herders, armed groups and local communities.
Violence has affected several parts of the country, including the North-Central region, where many Christian farming communities have faced attacks. Islamist extremist groups have also operated in northern states, while reports indicate that abductions for ransom have increased.
Open Doors has further reported the spread of violence into southern areas and the emergence of the Lakurawa armed group in north-western Nigeria. It describes the group as linked to the wider jihadist network Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which originated in Mali.
The latest attacks on the two Catholic priests come amid continuing concerns about the safety of religious leaders and civilians across Nigeria.
Source: Morning Star News - Christian Daily International.
