Once again, terrorists kill and kidnap in Nigeria during Christian celebrations. Fortunately, the kidnapped were freed shortly afterward by the army this Easter Sunday, which made the attackers flee.
Editorial Staff (07/04/2026 10:00, Gaudium Press) Although the war in Iran dominates every headline, the civil and religious conflict in Nigeria continues to claim victims. What is more, it intensifies during Christian festivities, both Christmas and Holy Week.
This Easter Sunday, a terrorist attack occurred against two churches (one Catholic and the other Protestant) in the village of Ariko (Kaduna State), in the northwest of Nigeria. While the Resurrection of Christ was being celebrated, the attackers entered the churches, killed eight people, and kidnapped the other faithful.
The attack, about one hundred kilometers from the capital, took place despite the government’s heightened security measures, knowing that Christian religious celebrations often provoke terrorist violence. Wave of Easter Attacks Deepens Christian Persecution Fears in Central Nigeria.
Fortunately, the rapid intervention of the Nigerian army succeeded in driving the attackers back, who, after a firefight, fled, leaving the thirty-one kidnapped unharmed.
Armed gangs are common in the center and northwest of the country, whether they are simple outlaws or Islamic extremists. Although the latter are characterized by the desire to impose an Islamic caliphate, in practice the differences between the groups are not always clear, because both groups are accustomed to kidnapping civilians to demand ransom. Last January, Nigeria’s Kaduna State suffered a similar attack in which the terrorists attacked three churches during Mass and kidnapped one hundred seventy people. Half of them later managed to escape, and the others were released weeks afterward, following negotiations with the terrorists.
Both attacks occurred after the United States bombed two camps of jihadists in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day 2025. On that occasion, President Trump stated that there would be more bombings if the genocide of Christians continued. However, the concentration of American military efforts on the conflict in Iran seems to have relegated that promise to the background.
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj with information from Infocatólica
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