Source: www.morningstarnews.org
Date: May 25, 2026
Gunmen abduct 15 others in attack.
By Christian Daily International-Morning Star News
Location of Kwara state, Nigeria. (Himalayan Explorer based on work by Uwe Dedering)
ABUJA, Nigeria, May 25, 2026 (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News) – Gunmen on Saturday night (May 23) killed three Christians and kidnapped 15 others in an attack on a church prayer vigil in western Nigeria’s Kwara state, sources said.
The attack occurred in Ori-Oke Ajaiye, on the outskirts of Ekerin village in Ekiti County, at 8:30 p.m., said Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, spokesman for the Kwara State Police Command.
“The Kwara State Police Command strongly condemns the gruesome attack, killing, and abduction of innocent worshippers by armed criminals,” Ejire-Adeyemi said. “The incident was reported on 24th May by Pastor Adebayo Abiodun of Ijo Ajaye Ati Igbala, Ekerin village, who stated that while conducting a night vigil alongside members of his congregation at Ori-Oke Ijaye via Ekerin village, armed hoodlums invaded the prayer ground, firing sporadically, killing three persons while abducting 15 others to an unknown destination.”
The Commissioner of Police of the Kwara State Command, Ojo Adekimi, directed a comprehensive tactical and intelligence-driven operation involving a Police Drone Team, PMF personnel, Intelligence Units and other operational assets for a coordinated rescue mission, he said.
“The commissioner of police describes the attack as barbaric, callous and unacceptable, assuring the families of the deceased, the injured, and the abducted victims that the Command is fully committed to ensuring the rescue of all victims and the apprehension of the perpetrators behind the heinous act,” Ejire-Adeyemi said.
The Ekiti Local Government Council called on all church leaders to halt all night church worship services until further notice.
Awelewa Olawale Gabriel, Ekiti Local Government Council chairman, said the council earlier issued a directive to churches in the area to halt all night prayers and worship services due to terrorist activity in Kwara state.
“Faith cannot be practiced at the expense of life,” Gabriel said. “We have consistently advised churches and mosques in isolated areas to stop holding night vigils. Worship is meant to edify and protect, not expose people to avoidable danger.”
The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) on Sunday (May 24) condemned the attack.
“According to verified reports, armed assailants invaded the prayer ground during a religious gathering, opened fire sporadically, killed three worshippers and abducted 15 others to an unknown destination,” CDHR National President Yinka Folarin and Idris Afees Olayinka, the group’s general secretary, said in a press statement. “The attack reportedly threw surrounding communities into panic as residents fled for safety amid heavy gunfire and confusion.”
Continued attacks on innocent citizens, destruction of livelihoods, displacement of communities and a growing atmosphere of fear are unacceptable in any democratic society, they said.
“Sadly, the state government efforts appear not to be enough to protect citizens from the persistent wave of terrorist attacks, kidnappings and violent crimes spreading across several communities,” they said. “The silence, weak response, and apparent lack of urgency by government at all levels have further emboldened criminal elements and left residents abandoned to fear, uncertainty and lawlessness.”
The CDHR is deeply worried that Kwara state is fast becoming a dangerous hotspot for terrorism and violent extremism, particularly in Kwara South, where rural communities now live under constant threat of attacks, abductions, killings, and violent displacement, they said.
“Farmers can no longer safely access their farmlands, economic activities are being disrupted, and freedom of movement has been severely restricted by fear and insecurity,” the leaders said. “This latest attack also reflects a disturbing pattern of repeated assaults on worship centres and rural settlements across the state.”
In November, armed bandits attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Oke Isegun, Eruku, in Ekiti County, killing worshippers and abducting congregation members, they said. Similarly, in March another attack occurred at an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) congregation in Omugo, Ifelodun County, where worshippers were abducted during a service.
“These recurring incidents clearly demonstrate the growing boldness of criminal groups operating within Kwara state,” the CDHR leaders said. “We therefore call on the governor of Kwara state, the Federal Government of Nigeria, security agencies, and all relevant authorities to urgently take decisive, coordinated and sustained actions to restore peace, security and public confidence across the affected communities, Kwara South region and the entire Kwara state.”
CDHR warned that continued failure of both the state and federal governments to decisively confront growing activities of terrorists and armed criminal groups poses a grave threat to national peace, food security, religious freedom and democratic governance.
“Rural communities must not be abandoned to violence and lawlessness,” the group leaders said.
More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024 to 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 percent – were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, 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.