By Segun Onibiyo
(Maradi) The call to prayer echoed across the arid town, the voice of the muezzin crackling over battered loudspeakers atop the mosque minarets. In a place where sandstorms often veil the sun and the number of mosques outnumbers wells, Buba Adamu once stood among the faithful, bowing in devotion to a God he believed he fully understood.
The late afternoon sun beat down on the dusty streets of a remote town in the Sahel, as Buba Adamu stood before a crowd of curious onlookers, his voice trembling not with fear, but with conviction. Just years ago, Adamu knelt five times daily in the direction of Mecca. Today, in the heart of a Muslim-majority nation surrounded by 60 mosques and not a single church, he lifted his hands toward the sky and declared, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Today, he stands on a different altar – an unpainted concrete floor beneath a crude tin roof – raising his hands not in Islamic supplication, but in Christian worship. In a Sahelian town surrounded by 60 mosques and zero churches, Adamu has planted what no one thought possible: a fledgling Christian congregation, 30 members strong, in the spiritual heartland of West African Islam.
“I was once blind, but now I see,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion during a recent service.
The journey from mosque to mission field has not been easy. It has been marked by threats, hunger, betrayal, and the gnawing fear that at any moment, the very people he once called brothers might turn on him. Yet through it all, Adamu has pressed forward, carrying a battered Bible and an unshakable belief that even the most hardened hearts can be transformed.
His story, recently highlighted by TruthNigeria, reflects a deeper, growing movement across Northern Nigeria and the Sahel – a quiet revolution as Muslim converts to Christianity emerge from the shadows, risking everything to share the Gospel.
The Price of Conversion
In Northern Nigeria, where Christianity often feels like a whispered rebellion against deeply entrenched Islamic traditions, conversion is more than a personal decision – it is an act of social, and sometimes literal, suicide. Apostates are often disowned by family, attacked by community members, and left with no means of livelihood. According to Open Doors USA, Nigeria ranks as one of the deadliest places for Christians, especially for those who leave Islam.
Among the Fulani – Africa’s largest nomadic group, notorious in recent years for their association with terrorism and kidnapping – the stakes are even higher. Tradition, honor, and religious identity are woven into the very fabric of Fulani life. To leave Islam is to tear the fabric apart.
Yet despite the danger, small but significant numbers of Fulani are coming to Christ. Mission agencies estimate that thousands have converted quietly over the past two decades, though the real number remains hidden by fear.
Buba Adamu is one of the rare few who not only converted but also dared to evangelize his own people.
A Church in the Desert
Between 2023 and 2024, fueled by donations totaling about $2,275 (3.5 million naira), Adamu began building his church – a modest but powerful symbol of hope in an unforgiving land. The project cost about $2,600 (4 million naira), a monumental sum for a man who once lived on less than a dollar a day.
The challenges were relentless: raising funds, feeding and sheltering workers, transporting materials across miles of dusty, often hostile terrain, and battling the volatile exchange rate between Nigeria’s naira and Niger’s CFA franc.
But less than two weeks ago, Adamu’s dream was dedicated. On that day, the tiny church rang not with the call to prayer, but with the sound of hymns sung in Hausa, Fulfulde, and broken French – a defiant chorus of faith rising into the Sahelian sky.
And he is just getting started. Adamu plans to build three more churches in Niger Republic, including one specifically for a Fulani settlement of nearly 300 people. His dreams stretch across borders: five church renovations in Nigeria’s Kwara State, and four more plants in Benin Republic.
“We faced numerous challenges. There were times we were openly told we can’t build a church in Maradi. We prayed. We fasted, we believed. God built his church. We don’t know what may happen tomorrow, either from the government of Niger republic or our fellow Fulanis. But we know one thing for sure, God will harvest souls here”.
“Our motivation is simple,” he says, quoting Matthew 28:19. “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
The Gospel vs. Terrorism
In a region where extremism has fed on illiteracy and poverty, Adamu’s strategy is holistic. Preach Christ, yes – but also teach literacy, nurture children, and offer an alternative vision for young Fulani often recruited by terrorist groups.
“We must catch them young,” Adamu insists. “If we give Fulani children a Christian upbringing and good education, they will reject the path of violence.”
He dreams of establishing a massive center for Fulani children across the Sahel – a place where faith, education, and opportunity collide to rewrite a generation’s destiny.
It is a radical idea in a region where armed militias often seem to outnumber schools. But Adamu believes it is the only hope for lasting peace.
Terrorist violence linked to Fulani extremists in the wider Sahel region is increasingly mirrored in Nigeria, where a growing network of Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) groups are carrying out deadly attacks across the Middle Belt and North-West regions. The Nigerian arm of this broader Sahelian crisis has been marked by brutal killings, mass displacement, and persistent insecurity in rural communities.
Intelligence sources and conflict monitors have identified the emergence of armed Fulani groups in Nigeria that mirror the tactics and objectives of Sahel-based terrorists. These militias, often operating under the guise of defending pastoralist interests, have in many cases evolved into organized terrorist factions. They target farming- Christian communities in states like Benue, Plateau, Kaduna, and Niger, driven by a toxic mix of ethnic resentment, land disputes, and extremist ideology.
Security analysts fear that FEM’s rise in Nigeria reflects a dangerous spillover of the Sahel conflict, facilitated by porous borders, arms trafficking, and weak state response. These Fulani militia groups continue to expand their operations, they not only deepen the ethno-religious fault lines in Nigeria but also threaten to merge with transnational jihadist movements operating across West Africa, thereby threatening Christians, taking over their communities, spilling their blood.
Why It Matters
Supporting Christians like Buba Adamu—through prayer, funding, and advocacy – is not just charity. It is a strategic investment in the transformation of one of the world’s most volatile regions, one soul, one village, and one church at a time.
In the dusty heart of the Sahel, where the battle between darkness and light rages unseen, a former Fulani Muslim is building an unlikely revolution.
And it is just beginning.
Segun Onibiyo reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria.
