Christians in north-central Nigeria are facing what experts describe as a deliberate and systematic campaign of kidnapping designed to devastate their communities economically and spiritually. Multiple sources say the abductions are not isolated crimes but a calculated strategy aimed at dismantling Christian life in the region.
The spate of kidnappings is being driven largely by Muslim Fulani militants, as reported by Fox News, with experts warning the tactic is meant to “target, bankrupt and destroy Christian communities.” Steven Kerfas, lead researcher for the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, told Fox News Digital that “kidnapping for ransom is a strategic aim of the Fulani militants,” explaining, “They do it to fund their terrorism, but also to bankrupt the Christian community.”
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Kerfas said the kidnappings are explicitly targeted. “These mass abductions are targeted,” he said. “You have cases where 100 Christians will be marched into the forest and kept there for months.” Victims are forced to pay ransoms far beyond their means, leading to the destruction of their livelihoods. “They are forced to cough out ransoms they don’t have, so they have to sell everything – [including] their farmland,” Kerfas said.
The loss of land is devastating for families who survive through subsistence farming. “Now you force them to sell the farmland that they are surviving on to pay ransom,” Kerfas continued. “So by the time you release them, what do they go back to? Nothing.”
Data from Open Doors UK reinforces the claim that Christians are being singled out. The organization reported that 4,407 Christians were abducted in north-central Nigeria between 2020 and 2025. When adjusted for population size, “a Christian was 2.4 times more likely than a Muslim to be abducted,” according to Open Doors.
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Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK, said the pattern is unmistakable. “The kidnapping for ransom epidemic in north-central Nigeria doesn’t just affect Christians, but it’s clear that they are disproportionately singled out,” she told Fox News Digital.
Blyth added that “tactics by kidnappers include raids on churches and schools,” noting that “priests and pastors are singled out because they represent high-value targets.”
Families often sell land, livestock, and property to meet ransom demands, a burden Blyth warned “can bankrupt families for generations.” She described what she called a “horrific dilemma” facing Christian families: “Pay ransoms in the hope of saving lives, (knowing) that payment allows the attacks to continue, or refuse and risk their loved ones being slaughtered.”
Even paying does not guarantee survival. International Christian Concern reported that a kidnapped pastor, Rev. James Audu Issa, was held for weeks and then killed, “even though a ransom had been paid.”
A Nigerian lawyer, identified under the pseudonym Jabez Musa for safety reasons, told Fox News Digital that the religious targeting is clear. “In the (Nigerian) Middle Belt, they kidnap Christians, they kidnap the clergy, they abduct women. They hardly kidnap any Muslims,” he said. “The reason for these ransom demands is to economically weaken Christians. That is the way Christians look at it.”
The financial toll on churches has become crushing. Musa cited a case in which the Evangelical Church Winning All paid 300 million naira, about $205,000, for the release of roughly 50 kidnapped members. He said such payments place “an unbearable financial strain on the church and affected families.”
Kerfas warned the violence is fueled by jihadist ideology. “The Fulani militants are on a jihad, and, of course, they need to fund that jihad,” he said. “So the Christians being abducted have to cough out huge sums as ransoms.” He added that the danger never truly ends: “If you don’t pay ransom, you get killed. And sometimes, even after paying the ransom, you still get killed.”
Christian communities remain the majority in the Middle Belt, but experts say the long-term goal of these kidnappings is their eradication.
As believers around the world absorb these reports, the call is clear. Christians are urged to pray fervently for protection, endurance and deliverance for their brothers and sisters in Nigeria, and to remember those who are suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ under constant threat of violence, loss and death.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
