Fulani terrorists killed 12 Christians in attacks on two worship services on Easter Sunday in Kaduna state, Nigeria, following the killing of 17 Christians in Benue state, sources said. The assailants raided predominantly Christian Ariko town in Kachia County in north Nigeria’s Kaduna state and fired on Christians worshiping at an Evangelical Church Winning All site and at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Dozens of others were kidnapped, and both church buildings were damaged, area residents said.

“The attackers, who have been identified as Fulani bandits, were in large numbers,” Kachia Council Member Mark Bawa told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News. “They surrounded the community and attacked the churches as Christians were in worship services. Many Christians have been killed, while dozens of others were captured and taken away into the bush.”

Resident Sam Bahago said at least eight Christians were killed and many others taken into the forest. “Ariko town, a peaceful community in Kachia Local Government Area, was tragically attacked on Easter Sunday by Fulani bandits,” Bahago said.

Army personnel who later arrived recovered more bodies, bringing the confirmed death toll to 12, according to Truth Nigeria.

Steven Kefas, another resident, texted a message to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News during the assault. “Ariko community in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna state is under siege right now,” Kefas stated. “Not less than eight Christians are confirmed dead.”

Resident Gideon Michael also identified the assailants as Fulanis. “Tragedy has struck the Ariko community in Kachia LGA, Kaduna state, after Fulani gunmen launched a violent attack on Christian worshipers during Easter Sunday services,” Michael said in a text message. “The coordinated attack targeted congregants at ECWA Church and St. Augustine Catholic Church. At least eight Christians are confirmed dead, with dozens of other worshipers abducted by the herdsmen and forcefully taken into the surrounding forests.”

Benue State Attack

In central Nigeria’s Benue state, suspected Fulani herdsmen said to be accompanied by other terrorists killed 17 Christians at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning, sources said.

In Jande village, Mbalom in Gwer East County, the assailants shot the Christians dead, kidnapped many others, and destroyed homes, residents shared.

“There was an attack on Easter Sunday carried out by armed Fulani militia on Jande community of Mbalom, in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue state,” resident Tivta Samuel told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Fidelis Atom, another resident, said the attack left 17 Christians dead. “Many other Christians are still missing and believed to have been taken away from their community,” Atom said. “The attack has left the community devastated, with survivors displaced and properties worth millions of naira destroyed.”

In a press statement, Benue Governor Hyacinth Alia described the attack as “heinous” and unacceptable to his government. More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, according to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during that period, 3,490 (72%) were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it's most difficult to be a Christian.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam, as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

In the country’s Northcentral zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the Northeast and Northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report.

Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant, and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.

The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.

This article was originally published at Christian Daily International–Morning Star News.