Deadly Assault on Nigerian Church Leaves Multiple Victims and Kidnappings

Edited By: Adjoa Nanyé

At least two people were killed and several others, including a pastor, were abducted after armed men attacked a church on Tuesday evening in the town of Iroko, in Kwara State, central Nigeria, according to police and eyewitness accounts. The incident comes only days after 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a boarding school, adding further pressure on the government as it faces criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action over what he describes as the persecution of Christians in the country.

Kwara State police spokesperson Aditiwon Ejire Adeyemi said officers responded to gunfire at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and found one person fatally shot inside the church and another in a nearby forest. Witnesses reported that at least three church members had been killed. One eyewitness told Reuters by phone that the attackers “later seized several worshippers, including the pastor, and took them into the bush,” without specifying how many were abducted.

A video published by a local news agency and verified by Reuters shows a church service abruptly halted by gunfire, forcing worshippers to take cover as armed men entered the building and took belongings amid ongoing shots.

Following the attack, the governor of Kwara State ordered an immediate reinforcement of security personnel, his spokesperson said. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu postponed an upcoming trip to South Africa and Angola for G20, African Union, and EU-related engagements to receive security briefings on both recent attacks, instructing security services to intensify efforts to pursue the perpetrators.

The president also directed security agencies to do “everything possible” to rescue the abducted schoolgirls and return them safely, according to his spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.

The Nigerian government maintains that the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” misrepresents the complexity of the nation’s security challenges and does not reflect the steps being taken to protect freedom of religion for all communities.

Nigeria continues to face multiple and overlapping security crises, including an Islamist insurgency in the northeast, widespread kidnappings and killings by armed gangs in the northwest, and deadly clashes between predominantly Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farmers in the central region.