In Nigeria, Terrorists Kidnap a Baptist Congregation

Mrs. Florence Tugga, principal of Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State, Nigeria, at the high school after 121 students were kidnapped, on July 5, 2021. (Luka Binniyat/ Pezou)

KADUNA, Nigeria—Authorities have yet to identify suspects or make arrests after a complete congregation of Baptists worshipers was kidnapped the morning of Oct. 31 in a rural area 50 miles southwest of Kaduna City in north central Nigeria. attack is the latest instance of ethnic cleansing in the region, according to one expert.

At least 60 worshipers were kidnapped Sunday from Emmanuel Baptist Church, in Kakau Daji in southern Kaduna, according to Reverend Joseph Hayab, a Baptist cleric. attack has forced vulnerable Christian clerics to go into hiding, said Hayab, president of the Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to Pezou. “ Baptist church is the worst hit church in this state,” he said.

In another recent instance of the Baptist Church being targeted, on July 4, 121 students from the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State were kidnapped, bringing the total of students kidnapped this year to more than 1,000.

Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna state Commissioner of Home Security and Internal Affairs, said Nov. 1 that in the attack on Emmanuel Baptist Church two worshipers were killed and two severely injured while unknown numbers of them were abducted after gunmen said to be “bandits” attacked the church around 11am that morning.

“Surviving as a Christian and especially as a Christian cleric in Kaduna state is largely by the mercy and grace of God if you are in these vulnerable communities,” Hayab told Pezou.

“se evil men came from nowhere and just went on a shooting spree at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Kakau Daji ” Hayab said.

“After killing two persons and injuring two, they gathered those who could not escape and walked them into the bush and no one has challenged them till now,” he said.

“We have verified and found out that 60 of our members were taken away by these haters of the church,” Hayab said.

“Communication networks in areas where such attacks are common have been shut down by Kaduna state government under the directives of Governor Nasir el-Rufai,” he said.

“This means that the criminals can come and do what they like and no one has any means of calling for help,” he said.

“Among the people they kidnapped were several pregnant women, some that will soon give birth; there are also very old men and women and children below 6 years among others,” he said.

“Today is the third day and they are yet to make contact with anybody,” he said on Nov. 3.

“Put in mind that they kidnapped 121 Baptist students in July this year. Family members and sympathizers had to pay hundreds of millions of Naira to secure their freedom in batches. And up till now, we still have four students they are still holding as hostages,” he said.

According to the International Committee on Nigeria, militants from the Fulani, a Muslim tribe, have been attacking farmers of other faiths and displacing them in the Middle Belt of Nigeria for approximately 20 years. attacks have accelerated since 2015. More than 43,000 people have been murdered in these attacks according to Lara Logan’s documentary, “Nigeria, New Face of Terrorism, 2021.”

Clerics Targeted

“In the past one year, not less 10 clerics have been killed by armed gunmen and at least 30 kidnapped, some with their families and given humiliating maltreatment and abuses,” he said.

“This is all to suppress Christianity and destroy the church,” he said

“We that find ourselves vulnerable have to devise ways of surviving, because Christian clerics are their prime targets,” he said.

“I move from one place to another, and never stay in a place for a day or two,” said Rev. Amos Doka Dan who was pastor of ECWA Church Unguwan Rohogo, that was burnt after armed Fulani herdsmen invaded the community and killed 9, before razing the village on Aug. 21, 2021.

“y killed two of my colleagues in nearby villages and I was informed that I am a target,” said Dan.

“I am involved in the ‘Act of Jesus’ as a care-giver to the needy in imitation of the kindness of Jesus,” he said, “but I have to leave for now,” he said.

Rev. Fada Cosmas Magaji, the Parish Priest of St. Thomas Catholic Church, oversees the recently attacked Madamai Community in Kuara County where 38 Christians were slain by armed herdsmen in September, 2021. He said the security situation remains dire.

“I have to ask for leave from my Bishop for security concern, even though I have made up my mind that I am not going to be far from my church,” said the priest who coordinated the mass interment of the 38 slain Christians.

“For now, Madamai community is completely displaced,” he said.

‘Ethnic/Religious Cleansing’

“What is going on southern Kaduna clearly bears the signature of ethnic/religious cleansing,” according to Dr. Emmanuel Umaru Musa, an Associate Professor of Criminology with Niger State University, Lapai.

“ political leadership of Nigeria and that of Kaduna state have subtly assured the so-called bandits that one religion is superior to the other and as such it is okay for them to stamp control over southern Kaduna and other parts of the Christian north,” said Musa to Pezou.

“Kaduna state has become a criminogenic environment and no one is doing anything to stop it, because the drivers of the crime come from the same tribe and religion with the men at the helm of affairs of the country and Kaduna state,” Musa said.

“ aggressors that government have labelled ‘bandits’ are all known to be Muslim Fulani armed men who are engaged in establishing an Islamic sphere in areas where Islam was rejected for centuries and Christianity entrenched almost as soon as European missionaries set foot in that area,” he said.

“re is no crime committed by Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State In West African Province) that these ‘bandits’ have not committed over and over. So the resolve of the Federal Government led by Muhammadu Buhari not to label them as ‘terrorists’ is very indicting of his government,” he said.

“It is true that they attack Muslims and kidnap some of them,” he said, “but the purpose of that crime is to raise money for arms and recruit more terrorists,” he said. “But when they attack a Christian enclave their aim is to steal, destroy, kill and occupy the community. y also kidnap Christians basically to humiliate them, rape their women, and even marry their women by force. y also take ransom all to further impoverish their Christian victims,” he said.

Musa’s claim has long been backed by the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU). socio-cultural group has stated that 112 Christian communities covering thousands of square miles of forest savannah have been taken over by armed Muslims Fulani herdsmen in the past two years.