A Baptist pastor and a church member were shot dead during an evening worship service on Monday in northwest Nigeria, as part of a growing wave of violent attacks on Christian communities in the country.
The attack took place at Bege Baptist Church in Yaribori village, Katsina state. According to reports, between 15 and 20 armed men speaking with Fulani accents stormed the church while Pastor Emmanuel Na’allah Auta was leading the service. Both he and another church member, Samaila Gidan Taro, were killed, and a female worshipper was kidnapped.
Local sources said Pastor Auta was known for his efforts to promote peace between Muslims and Christians in the village. Gidan Taro was reportedly a well-known convert from Islam.
The violence is part of a wider pattern of attacks across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern states, where armed groups, including Fulani militants and Islamist extremists, continue to target predominantly Christian communities.
In Plateau state, central Nigeria, at least 20 Christians were killed in June in one area alone. Since May, another 80 Christians have been confirmed dead across various villages in Bokkos County, where 13 Christian communities have come under repeated attack.
In one incident on 27 June, herdsmen reportedly killed two Christians and destroyed nearly 100 homes in Gyambwas, Mangu County. A resident, Esther Luka, shared that her friend’s father was shot dead on his farm while tending crops with his son.
In separate attacks in Mangu County throughout June, armed assailants killed at least 18 Christians in the villages of Manja, Chicim, and Bwai. More than 20 homes were also burned during one of the raids.
Amalau Samuel, chairman of Bokkos Local Government Council, described the attacks as “barbaric and inhuman,” explaining that the militants broke into homes during the night and targeted vulnerable people, including children and the elderly.
Residents say terrorist camps are known to exist in several nearby regions, including Daffo and Butura, and have called on Nigerian security forces to act on this information.
While not all Fulani people support violence, some have adopted extremist ideologies and work alongside jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), according to a 2020 report from the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief. These groups reportedly seek to displace Christians and seize land, especially as desertification makes traditional herding more difficult.
Nigeria continues to be ranked among the most dangerous countries for Christians. The 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors reports that 3,100 of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith globally were in Nigeria, nearly 70 percent.
The ongoing violence has also reached Nigeria’s southern states, and a new Islamist group known as Lakurawa has emerged in the northwest. This group is reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda's West African affiliate and is known to be heavily armed.
Christian leaders have repeatedly called on the Nigerian government to provide greater protection for communities and to bring those responsible for these attacks to justice.
With reports from Christian Daily International and Morning Star News.
