163 Christians kidnapped by gunmen during church service

A UN report available to the AFP news agency said more than a hundred believers had been kidnapped. The sparsely populated and heavily forested area of ​​Kajuru, where the incident occurred, has become a “privileged target” for kidnappers as they can operate there undisturbed and evade security forces.

Gangs extort ransoms

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have repeatedly attacked rural areas in northwest and central Nigeria to kidnap people and extort ransom. Thousands of people were killed. The gangs have their camps in a huge forest area that stretches across several states.

Most recently, schools in Kaduna state were closed for two months after hundreds of children were kidnapped.

Nigeria is rocked by numerous conflicts between different ethnic and population groups, to which Christians and Muslims alike fall victim. Africa’s most populous country is divided into a predominantly Muslim north and a largely Christian south. The Nigerian authorities reject allegations that Christians in the country are being persecuted.

The US Army attacked targets of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day. However, villages were apparently also hit where there had never been any activity by IS terrorists. To justify the attacks, US President Donald Trump cited the killing of “innocent Christians” in Africa’s most populous country.