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<\/source><\/picture>ABUJA,\u00a0Nigeria \u2014 Terrorists on Saturday kidnapped more than 30 Christians in southern Kaduna state, Nigeria, residents said.<\/p>\n
The assailants ambushed and took the Christians away at gunpoint at about 11 a.m. as they worked on a communal farm in Chikuri, Chikun County, said area resident Victor Dabo in a text message.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 30 Christian farmers who were cultivating a farm have been abducted in one fell swoop,\u201d Dabo told Morning Star News. \u201cPlease pray for the Chikuri Christian community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another resident, Dogara Peter, said his mother and sister were among those kidnapped as they worked on the farm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe terrorists kidnapped 30 of our Christian villagers as they were working on a farm which belongs to Mr. Maikudi, an elderly member of our community,\u201d Peter told Morning Star News. \u201cMy mother and sister are among those kidnapped by the terrorists. This incident has thrown our community into confusion. The terrorists are yet to contact us more than 24 hours after the abduction of our family members.\u201d<\/p>\n
The abductions marked the third time the terrorists have invaded their traumatized community, he said. Saying the community\u2019s last hope lay with police, other security agencies and the Nigerian government, he issued an appeal for them to rescue those held captive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make this appeal because we have nowhere to raise money for payment of ransom if these terrorists eventually ask us to do so, as has been the norm in the other two attacks on our community,\u201d Peter said.<\/p>\n
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors\u2019 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.<\/p>\n
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilitants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,\u201d the WWL report noted. \u201cThis year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation. \u2026 Nigeria\u2019s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians\u2019 rights are carried out with impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020\u00a0report<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,\u201d the APPG report states.<\/p>\n Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria\u2019s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians\u2019 lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.<\/p>\n