At least 30 killed in Niger State village raid as a violent insurgency deepens, stirring debate over governance, religion, and national identity.
Newsroom (05/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) The weekend calm in Kasuwan-Daji, a farming village tucked in Nigeria’s northern Niger State, shattered violently on Saturday evening. Heavily armed gunmen flooded the community, opening fire indiscriminately, burning homes, and leaving behind scenes of desolation. By the following morning, bodies still lay uncollected in the streets—a grim testament to yet another mass killing in one of West Africa’s most unstable regions.
Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun confirmed at least 30 deaths, though residents say the real number could be higher. “The bodies are still there,” one villager said, his voice filled with fear. “We cannot go back without security.” Local testimonies describe the assault lasting nearly three hours, with gunmen looting a crowded market before setting it ablaze.
The attack comes just weeks after gunmen kidnapped hundreds of schoolchildren in nearby Papiri, deepening anxiety in a region trapped between lawlessness and governmental neglect.
State and Church in Shock
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu condemned the killings, calling them “an affront to the nation’s resolve” and vowing that security forces would track down the perpetrators. Yet survivors remain skeptical. Many say security patrols have been largely absent, contradicting official claims of immediate response.
Within hours of the attack, the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora, which serves much of rural Niger State, confirmed that at least 40 villagers—including children—were killed. Father Stephen Kabirat, a local priest, said the scale of the massacre reveals how vulnerable religious minorities remain. “We are tired of counting our dead,” he told reporters.
A Boiling Conflict and a Spiraling Debate
The Kasuwan-Daji tragedy has resurfaced uncomfortable questions about Nigeria’s escalating religious and ethnic divides. Attacks by so-called bandits—a term often masking complex insurgent networks mingled with ideological militancy—have devastated rural communities across the north. While some crimes stem from economic desperation, others appear rooted in deeper sectarian animosities.
Those tensions are fueling outspoken calls for change from figures like Father Emefiena Ezeani, a political scientist and Catholic priest who argues that the country’s constitutional structure has enabled fanaticism and weakened state unity. In a recent interview with the Catholic news outlet Crux, he described Nigeria as a “captured state,” alleging that a Fulani Muslim elite maintains disproportionate control over national institutions, including the military.
Radical Proposals for a Fractured State
Ezeani’s prescriptions are controversial: he calls for a ten-year moratorium on Fulani Muslim leadership within the presidency and security apparatus—an extraordinary proposal in a country of over 200 million people, nearly evenly split between Muslims and Christians.
“The Fulani Muslim Caliphate,” he said, “has captured the entire Nigerian power structure. To rescue the country from its suffocating grip, there must be a political and constitutional overhaul.” He further advocates for prosecuting all known terror sponsors and either radically restructuring the state into six autonomous zones or dissolving it altogether.
His words resonate among frustrated populations who see little accountability from Abuja. But they also polarize a fragile society, where many worry that emphasizing religious divisions could accelerate an already perilous descent into sectarianism.
The Global Dimension
International concern over Nigeria’s internecine strife has grown. The United States recently confirmed targeted airstrikes on Islamic State-affiliated groups operating within Nigerian territory, a move that Father Ezeani called “God’s answer to our suffering.” He dismissed concerns that the strikes could provoke retaliation, arguing instead that “it is time to call evil by its name.”
Scholars, however, caution that framing the crisis as primarily a Christian-versus-Muslim war risks deepening radical narratives. Nigeria’s complex web of grievances—ranging from poverty and herder-farmer disputes to state corruption—may not yield to military solutions alone.
A Nation at a Crossroads
As dawn breaks each day over the blackened ruins of Kasuwan-Daji, families search for loved ones, while displaced villagers weigh whether to flee for good. Every fresh massacre seems to erode Nigeria’s promise as Africa’s largest democracy—a nation founded on pluralism but imperiled by inequality and distrust.
In the charred remnants of markets and churches, the echoes of Father Ezeani’s question linger: can two visions of life—secular democracy and religious absolutism—peacefully coexist within one country?
So far, the evidence suggests that Nigeria has yet to find an answer.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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