Gunmen kill pastor and kidnap 40 faithful in Nigeria

According to information from the EFE agency, local authorities and witnesses reported that the victims were participating in a service at the Apostolic Church of Christ, in the Ilejemeje local government area, when armed men invaded the place at around 8:30 pm (local time, 4:30 pm Brasília time) on Tuesday.

“The congregation dispersed abruptly and everyone ran in different directions to find an escape route. Unfortunately, the pastor was murdered and the armed men took away many of the faithful, at least 40,” a witness told EFE.

Violence against Christians, by terrorist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram, has intensified in Nigeria in recent years, in a broader context of territorial and ethnic disputes in the African country.

The local organization International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) estimated that around 52,000 Christians and 34,000 moderate Muslims were killed in the African country between 2009 and 2023. From 2015 to 2023, 18,000 churches were attacked in Nigeria, according to Intersociety.

Faced with this situation, American President Donald Trump said in October last year that if the Nigerian government continued to “allow the murder of Christians”, the US would suspend aid to the African country and could take action inside Nigeria “to completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities”.

In December, American forces carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State in northern Nigeria, using intelligence information from the African country.

On the 14th, the Nigerian police reported the arrest of 33 suspected members of a gang that kidnapped 38 worshipers in November 2025 in a Catholic church in Kwara state.

That attack, which took place in the city of Eruku on November 18, interrupted a mass and resulted in the deaths of two people before the survivors, including the priest, were kidnapped.

Faced with a wave of mass attacks and kidnappings, often targeting religious centers and schools, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently declared a national security emergency and ordered the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers.