ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Suspected Fulani herdsmen on Saturday (Sept. 17) abducted dozens of Christians from a church service in northwest Nigeria, less than a week after kidnapping nearly 60 members of the same denomination in the north-central part of the country, sources said.
In northwest Nigeria, the suspected herdsmen and other terrorists who raided the night-time service of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Suleja, Niger state at about 2 a.m. on Saturday (Sept. 17) kidnapped the pastor and other Christians, area residents said.
The congregation was holding an all-night prayer vigil at the church site in the Japap area of Suleja at the time of the attack by Fulani herdsmen, said Suleja resident Nathaniel Ade. Another town resident, Elisha Musa, also identified the assailants as Fulani herdsmen, who are predominantly Muslim.
“The Fulani herdsmen kidnapped the pastor of the church and some of his members,” Musa said in a text message to Morning Star News. “Soldiers from Zuma Rock Barracks, Suleja, who rushed to the church to rescue worshippers and repel the attackers got there hours after the attackers had left with the kidnapped victims.”
The Rev. Raphael Opawoye, secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter, said that Christians in Niger and other states in northwest Nigeria have suffered unabated attacks by herdsmen and other terrorists, though kidnapped priest Leo Raphael Ozigi was released after a ransom was paid.
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Source: Morning Star News
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