Baptist Pastor Killed As Violence Grips Nigeria’s Plateau State

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

ABUJA (Worthy News) – A Baptist pastor was shot and killed by suspected Muslim Fulani militants while on his way to a church service in central Nigeria’s Plateau State, Worthy News learned Wednesday, one of at least nine people killed in a series of attacks on Christians over the weekend.

Samuel Nandi, pastor of the Baptist Church in the Maraban Kantoma community of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (LGA), died early Sunday after being ambushed, according to several sources.

His son was also shot and hospitalized, said Da Sambo Chollom, the ward head of nearby Dorowa Babuje village and a traditional community leader in the area.

“This morning, one of our pastors from Borno came home and was heading to church when he was attacked and killed by suspected Fulani bandits. His son was shot and is currently hospitalized. This is a sad day for us,” Chollom added.

Local Christian residents and community leaders blamed suspected Muslim Fulani militants for the attacks, although Nigerian authorities had not publicly confirmed the perpetrators as of Wednesday.

VILLAGERS FLEE VIOLENCE

Chollom said he had informed the Plateau State governor about the violence and that continuing gunfire around Maraban Kantoma was forcing residents to flee their villages.

Nandi’s killing added to mounting tensions in Maraban Kantoma, Dorowa Babuje and surrounding communities after a weekend of bloodshed across Plateau State.

Hours earlier, five passengers traveling to work as day laborers were reportedly shot and killed Saturday night while heading to the Gana-Ropp community, also in Barkin Ladi LGA.

Ukasha Garaba, a local youth leader representing the Pyem ethnic community in Gana-Ropp, said residents had recovered the victims’ bodies from the scene. “We evacuated the corpses of five persons from Gana-Ropp. They were passengers who were traveling as laborers,” he recalled.

Garaba described the killings as “painful” and asked authorities to act quickly to prevent further attacks on travelers.

MORE VICTIMS REPORTED

Bulus Dabit, national president of the Mwaghavul Development Association representing the predominantly Christian Mwaghavul ethnic community of Plateau State, confirmed the deaths and urged security forces to pursue the attackers.

In neighboring Riyom LGA, attackers killed a woman at Baten Wereng late Saturday and another person at Ratyidi in the Fan District, Worthy News monitored.

Rwang Tengwong, a spokesman for the Berom Youth Moulders (BYM), a group representing the Berom ethnic community, condemned the attacks as “worrisome and unacceptable.”

“We condemn these attacks in the strongest terms and call on the security agencies to urgently strengthen their presence in the affected communities. The killing of innocent people must stop,” he stressed in published remarks.

Attackers also killed or took cattle from farms at Dorowa Maranba and along the Kantoma axis around 3 a.m. local time Sunday, according to local reports.

MILITARY COMMANDER VISITS

Major General Maxwell Dangana, commander of the joint military operation deployed in the region, visited affected communities Sunday amid the escalating violence.

He pledged to strengthen security measures as residents were urged to remain vigilant, limit unnecessary movements and follow security developments.

The weekend killings formed part of a particularly violent period in Plateau State, with Nigerian media reporting that at least 27 people were killed in separate attacks between September 13 and September 20.

The violence included an attack on a commercial vehicle at Dungus in Kuru District of Jos South LGA, where at least nine people were reportedly killed as passengers were getting out at a busy junction.

Two people were also reported killed in Ta-Hoss village in Riyom LGA and another two in Vodni village in Mangu LGA.

MARKET ATTACK

In an earlier attack at a farmers’ market in Mangu, three people were killed and seven others wounded, including a seven-month-old baby, several sources said.

The bloodshed comes as Nigeria ranks seventh on the 2026 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution, according to advocacy group Open Doors.

Nigeria received a persecution score of 89 out of 100, with Open Doors giving the country the maximum possible score for violence against Christians.

The organization describes Nigeria as the global epicenter of deadly violence against Christians, particularly in the predominantly Muslim north and the country’s Middle Belt.

Open Doors says Islamic militant groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), attack Christians and their properties, while militants among the predominantly Muslim Fulani population have carried out deadly attacks on predominantly Christian farming communities in the Middle Belt.

PERSECUTION CONCERNS

However, the wider violence has also been linked to disputes over land and resources, organized crime, ethnic tensions, weak governance and the proliferation of armed groups.

Open Doors said 3,490 Nigerian Christians were killed for their faith during the reporting period for its 2026 World Watch List, accounting for most of the 4,849 Christians it recorded as killed worldwide.

Plateau State lies in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a diverse region between the country’s predominantly Muslim north and largely Christian south, and has experienced recurring communal and militant violence for more than two decades.

Barkin Ladi, where Nandi was killed, is one of Plateau State’s 17 local government areas. The largely rural area lies south of Jos, the state capital, and includes numerous villages and farming communities that have repeatedly been affected by violence.

The Nigerian government established a joint security task force in 2010 to help maintain security in Plateau State and parts of neighboring Bauchi and Kaduna states.

ATTACKS CONTINUE

The force includes personnel from the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies and is headquartered in Jos.

Yet attacks on rural communities have continued, with local leaders repeatedly saying existing security measures have failed to prevent killings and displacement.

Rights groups say thousands of people have been killed in Plateau State’s recurring violence over the past two decades. Tens of thousands have also been displaced from their homes, many from the Barkin Ladi and Riyom areas, according to investigators.