A church minister was killed and another was abducted by gunmen in a targeted attack on a church in north-central Katsina state, Nigeria, on May 20.
The body of church minister Alphonsus Bello was found the morning after the kidnapping.
The body of Alphonsus Bello, who was in his 30s, was found in farmland near the church training school in Malunfashi on the morning following the abduction of retired church minister Joe Keke, who is in his 70s.
The gunmen stormed the church at 11:30 p.m. and started shooting into the air, injuring some people in the area. A Barnabas contact reported, “This was not a random attack. The church was the target.”
Christians in Nigeria are often targeted for abduction, whether by Islamist militants or by bandits. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned of a “Christian genocide” if the government of Nigeria cannot protect Christians from Islamist terrorism.
From Barnabas Aid contacts and other sources
