A Christian pastor was killed last week as he traveled to minister to church members in northern Kaduna state, sources said.
While Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have been active in southern Kaduna state, the Rev. Manasseh Ibrahim was shot to death by “bandits” who ambushed him in a northern part of the state along the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna Highway on Tuesday (April 23), according to the Birnin Gwari chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“Rev. Manasseh Ibrahim, a pastor with ECWA [Evangelical Church Winning All] Church, Gure, was on his way for a pastoral church ministration in the Kurebe area of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna state when he was ambushed and killed by the bandits,” the local CAN chairman, the Rev. Yahaya Kinge, said in a press statement.
Pastor Ibrahim was serving with the ECWA Gure congregation under the ECWA Kaduna Central District Church Council (KCDCC), he said. His remains were transferred to the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna city.
“Christians who are direct victims of banditry and insurgency in Kaduna state are fed up with the inability of Nigeria government to find a lasting solution to the incessant killings of innocent Christians,” Kinge said. “The hard push of Christians to the wall through incessant attacks is enough; and we can no longer bear this brunt.”
Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, according to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.
Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.
In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year.
