Kachia County Suffers as Epicenter of Sectarian Attacks
By Luka Binniyat and Mike Odeh James
(Kachia) – No less than 7 Christians have been killed, 17 abducted in rural Christian communities in Kachia county, Southern Kaduna, Middle Belt of Nigeria in 48 hours, TruthNigeria findings shows.
Kaduna Police command has been slow to issue police reports of a kidnapping of 11 persons in Kajuru Local Government Area (County) on Feb. 27. The 11 persons taken hostage were members of the majority-Christian Adara tribe, a target of Fulani-terrorist massacres and kidnappings for more than 10 years.
No report had been posted as of March 1, although police are scrambling to respond, according No report had been posted as of March 1, although police are scrambling to respond, according to Leadership. The police appear to be overwhelmed with kidnappings: the attack on Feb. 27 is part of a series of incidents in the area with 51 people reported kidnapped in Kajuru in recent weeks, according to BSS News. Nigerian authorities report that kidnapping is motivated entirely for monetary gain, but security experts interviewed by TruthNigeria say that both money and religious obligation are factors.
On February 18, Christian traders en route to Awon market, in Kachia county, were ambushed by Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) gunmen. Two were killed. Three are hospitalized at Baraudiko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna, TruthNigeria findings shows.
On February 20, Angwan Tama in Kwaturu ward, in Kachia county was encircled at midnight by fifty FEM in military camouflage, Pama Nahemia, 24, a volunteer guard told TruthNigeria in Kachia.
“They did not raid randomly. They went street by street to one address — the home of Zachariah Samaila Kure, a Christian ginger trader and father,” he said.
“They found him and killed him straight. His wife and three children are still missing,” Nahemia said.
“It was 11 p.m. when they launched the attack,” he went on.
“Our youths were patrolling. Then suddenly the village was surrounded. The gunshots raised confusion — a scramble to run for survival. God in His mercy helped me escape,” he said.
“They have left with his wife and children for their camp,” he said.
“Who would pay ransom for his wife and children’s release?” he lamented.
According to Nahemia, it took three days for security forces to respond. The County Chairman has not spoken publicly.
Catechist Shot, Women Abducted
Catechist Yohanna Kure of St Ann Catholic Church, Unguwan Rege, in Kachia county was riding to his church for the Catholic Confirmation Sacrament rite on February 5, 2026, when FEM gunmen in military fatigues ambushed his motorcycle, Kure told TruthNigeria in an exclusive chat in Kachia.
“A few bullets pierced my thigh and my hand,” he told TruthNigeria. “The two women riding their bicycles behind me — Rita Yakubu and Angelina Joshua — were abducted in the attack.”
“The terrorists fled with my bicycle and the parish money,” he said.
Kure left the hospital before he was healed. He could not pay his bills. He has received nothing from the government, he lamented to TruthNigeria.
“These attacks have made Christian communities a dead man’s zone,” he said. “Only the cries of wild animals are heard in these areas now. Our villages are empty of humans.”
Kachia, the headquarters of Kachia county, is about 70 miles south of Kaduna city and a few miles east of a notorious kidnapping enclave near the border with Niger State. The network of kidnapping camps is named about the town of Rijanna, which is on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway. The camps are reportedly holding hundreds of hostages for ransoms for months at a time, TruthNigeria has reported.
Analysts within TruthNigeria staff predict that the 17 persons kidnapped will be ransomed for cash and ransom-in-kind (such as motor bikes) amounting to between $22,000 and $30,000.
Friday Agbo, Managing Director of Alterconsult Think-tank in Kaduna, told TruthNigeria the hesitation of police agencies to make public reports is strategic — and geopolitically calculated.
“These attacks are specifically aimed at ridiculing President Donald Trump, who has vowed to defend Christians globally,” Agbo said. “By escalating violence against Christian communities, Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are signaling that Trump’s protection is hollow — that no one can save these people.”
Agbo identified a second target. “These attacks are designed to disgrace Gen Christopher Musa (rtd), Nigeria’s Minister of Defense, who hails from Southern Kaduna. FEM is striking his backyard repeatedly as an act of deliberate humiliation.”
Most damning, he said, is what Nigeria is telling Washington.
“The government is actively deceiving the Trump administration into believing that Fulani Ethnic Militia are not the core problem. As long as that lie holds, Christians will keep dying and the killers will face zero deterrent. The violence will only increase,” he said.
Southern Kaduna, which has a landmass of 10,500 square miles (nearly the size of Maryland), with an estimated Christian population of 5 million, has been a slaughter ground for Christians since 2015, with 166 kidnapped from three Churches on 18th January, 2026 from Kurmin Wali village, Kajuru county, sparking global outrage.
Nigeria ranked 6th on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. The Middle Belt — where Southern Kaduna sits — accounts for the majority of Christian deaths recorded globally in recent years.
Luka Binniyat and Mike Odeh James are conflict reporters for TruthNigeria.
