Nigeria: Young boy killed in Palm Sunday church attack
A young boy has been killed and three people kidnapped in Nigeria in a suspected Fulani militant attack on Palm Sunday, as reported by Evangelical Times on 28th April, 2023.
Referencing Open Doors, ET reported that churches in Nigeria have increased security measures to defend themselves against rising Islamist violence.
During an early morning Palm Sunday prayer vigil at the church in the village of Akenawe in Benue State, Nigeria, gunmen stormed in.
According to reports from local news agency Logo LGA, the men surrounded the worshippers, killed one boy, and injured two people with a machete.
They also kidnapped three people, one of whom is said to be the pastor, Gwadue Kwaghtyo.
Open Doors said in a statement, ‘Believers in Nigeria are especially prone to violent attacks; last year, more than 5,000 Christians lost their lives for their faith – that’s more than anywhere else in the world combined.’
In a separate incident, eight students were kidnapped as they were returning home from their school in the town of Awon, Kaduna State, on 4 April.
Open Doors has put Nigeria at sixth place on its world watch list for persecution.
