Armed men have attacked another church in Nigeria. This time, the gunmen killed at least three people and kidnapped a group of worshippers, including the church’s pastor.
The attack on the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) congregation on Tuesday evening in Eruku, Kwara state, Nigeria, came just hours after 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school and one staffer was shot and another wounded in the country’s northern region.
Gunshots interrupted Tuesday night’s service shortly after members of the church arrived for a meeting, International Christian Concern, a persecution watchdog group, reports. Witnesses recalled that the gunmen entered the church compound, firing their weapons, causing worshippers to flee in different directions.
Those who couldn’t flee were held at gunpoint and forced into nearby forest paths that link Eruku with surrounding villages.
“They later rounded up some worshippers, including the pastor, and took them into the bush,” church member Joseph Bitrus told Reuters by phone, without saying how many were taken.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Police responded to gunfire and found one person fatally shot inside the church and another nearby, Kwara state police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said in a statement.
Witnesses said the attackers fled very quickly using bush routes commonly used by armed groups operating between Ekiti, Oke-Ero, and communities bordering Kogi state.
Families are still searching for missing relatives; meanwhile, the exact number of abducted church members has not been confirmed.
There have been several attacks across Kwara, but the recent abduction in Eruku is noted to be the most significant.
Kwara State Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in a statement on Wednesday, praised Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for the deployment of 900 additional troops there.
As CBN News has reported, Christians have been gruesomely murdered this month as the ongoing genocide in Nigeria continues.
Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List. In a recent report, the organization noted that of the 4,476 Christians killed recently for their faith worldwide, 3,100 or 69 percent took place in Nigeria.
Thousands have watched their neighbors or family members be killed or abducted. Many others have watched their churches, homes, and fields be burned to the ground.
And now significant protests have erupted as some Nigerians are demanding that the government step in.
In Taraba state, Amadu protestors held placards and marched through the streets on Monday night after five people were killed by Fulani jihadists, ICC reports. They called for security forces to regularly patrol areas and respond quickly to distress calls. A youth leader in the community reported that residents have been experiencing attacks almost weekly.
Nigerian priest Father George Dogo, of the Holy Family Parish in Takum, Taraba State, told CBN News his church was “ransacked” by Fulani militants, resulting in three deaths.
He explained that for the last two months, these places have been under constant attack.
“Houses burned down. People [were] macheted and killed,” Dogo described. “The number of those killed as of now, the count could be about 32 [or] 33.” He added that in Takum, more than 26,000 people have been displaced due to the violence.
“What I want the world to know is that there is genocide taking place,” Dogo declared. “We don’t have people to tell our story. So this [interview] is an opportunity to tell our story.”
He added that many survivors are facing unbearable hardship in the country.
“There are people [who] have no food,” Dogo shared. “No food. No houses. No water. No, nothing.”
Many believers around the world are taking notice, especially since President Trump called out the government of Nigeria, demanding it take action to halt the bloodshed.
At the United Nations on Tuesday, the U.S. stood up again for the persecuted Christians in Nigeria.
U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz was joined by rapper Nicki Minaj and a group of faith leaders to speak out for religious freedom. The Trinidad-born artist, who lives in New York, spoke of churches burned and Christians driven from their homes and killed.
Waltz said an entire faith is being erased “one bullet at a time, one torched Bible at a time.”
Open Doors outlines that Christians in Nigeria are being specifically targeted by Islamic militants.
Nigeria’s president says the government is working to protect all religious minorities.
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