By Luka Binniyat and Suleman Ayuba
(Maiduguri) – Nestled in the rugged foothills of the Mandara Mountains near the Cameroon border, Ngoshe is a historic agrarian town of about 25,000, renowned for its breathtaking mountain landscape and strategic position linking highland communities with the plains of northeastern Nigeria. Residents and frequent visitors have described the town to TruthNigeria as a peaceful, closely knit society where Christians, Muslims, and traditional worshippers lived harmoniously. Children played together across rocky hills and valleys regardless of faith, while farmers cultivated fertile lands side by side.
Traders for decades have thrived in vibrant markets, and families shared weddings, festivals, and communal celebrations, creating a strong culture of mutual respect, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence.
The Ngoshe residents belong to the Glavda-language group of tribes of the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
Then Boko Haram Arrived
“By 2011, after Boko Haram Islamists had gained notoriety as terrorists in Borno State, it became apparent that they had planted their agents in Ngoshe and surrounding areas in Gwoza county, including locals they had converted,” according to Evangelist Samuel Tekura of Salvation News, who had worked in Ngoshe for years, speaking to TruthNigeria from Abuja on Friday, June 12, 2026.
“Selected attacks on Christian homes, individuals, and churches started with increasing frequency,” he noted.
“A family may have Christians and Muslims living happily as family members, but anytime Boko Haram attacked, they spared the Muslim members on condition that they accepted their own teachings of Islam,” he added.
He noted that, unknown to many, the Glavda ethnic group is predominantly Christian, while having a sizable Muslim population as well, and includes adherents of traditional ancestral worship.
“My work included converting that group to Christ,” Tekura told TruthNigeria, adding that traditional-religion worshippers who refused to convert to Islam received the worst treatment from the Islamists.
Some Glavda Muslims became active members of Boko Haram, carrying out horrific acts against their kinsmen who refused to embrace the group’s beliefs, according to Tekura.
The Fall of Gwoza
According to published accounts, Boko Haram overran most of Gwoza county in August 2014, with the fall of Gwoza town occurring on August 6, 2014, after a major assault by the insurgents.
Following the capture of the town and surrounding areas, Wikipedia documented that Gwoza effectively became the headquarters of Boko Haram’s territorial expansion in northeastern Nigeria.
By this time, findings by TruthNigeria show that virtually all native Christians, traditional religion worshippers, and Muslims who rejected Boko Haram’s version of Islam had fled Gwoza County.
A 2016 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report stated that before Boko Haram captured Gwoza, the county had at least 300,000 inhabitants. By then, however, only about 70,000 people remained in Gwoza town and surrounding communities, indicating that well over 200,000 people had been displaced or were still away from their homes.
Where did most of the population flee to?
According to the 2016 UNHCR report, about 169,000 Nigerians who had fled Boko Haram violence from Gwoza and adjoining areas were sheltering in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, with Cameroon hosting the largest share.
All the while, the persecution of Christians in Gwoza County remained largely unreported by Nigerian media. In fact, the majority of Nigerians living in Borno State are Muslims, yet within the state there are hubs of Christian-majority communities such as Ngoshe. Authorities do not routinely take note of the religious affiliation of terror victims in Borno State with the result that casualty reports do not reflect the disproportionate harm endured by Christian communities, TruthNigeria has learned from local sources. Nonetheless, human-rights organizations in Borno have brought the grim facts to concerned lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
The steady drum beat of protests by U.S. congressmen denouncing what they called a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria’s Borno State drew rebukes from the powerful senator who represents Borno South Senatorial Zone at the Nigerian Senate. In November 2025, Senator Ali Ndume denied the claim of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz that there was a Christian genocide in Gwoza County, as the Daily Post reported.
The senator’s remarks prompted the Gwoza Christian Community Association (GCCA) to release a summary of well-concealed atrocities against Christians in Ngoshe town and in Gwoza County.
The Unspoken Genocide
In a press statement signed by Rev. Dr. Ayuba John Bassa, National Coordinator of the GCCA, on November 10, 2025, titled “The Unspoken Genocide,” the association declared that “Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA) – county – once had a thriving Christian presence.” The association noted benchmarks of terrorism.
- “Before the insurgency, there were more than 176 large church buildings across the local government, but 148 of those churches have been burned;”
- “Entire Christian neighbourhoods in Gwoza East and West were flattened; in many places, every Christian home was destroyed;
- “In Gwoza West alone, 74 towns and villages were sacked;
- 36,946 families were displaced, and 2,292 people were killed in September 2013:
- “By August 9, 2014, no fewer than 2,013 Christian houses had been destroyed, and 102 Christians — including three pastors — had been killed in Gwoza town, Kamba, and Gharza.
- “12 pastors were killed by insurgents in Gwoza Local Government.”
Rev. Bassa concluded his press statement with the following plea: “To the international community, including the United States and global human-rights bodies: do not ignore what is happening in Nigeria’s northeast and north-central regions. Independent investigations, humanitarian assistance targeted at displaced Christians (and all victims), and diplomatic pressure for accountability are necessary.”
Luka Binniyat writes for TruthNigeria from Kaduna. Suleman Ayuba contributes to TruthNigeria from Maiduguri.
