By Dr Solomon Ubasi, Virtueonline.
There is a continuing pattern of attacks on rural communities, people travelling on vulnerable roads, farmers, miners and community security personnel.
The ongoing persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria is taking various forms including reducing or limiting opportunities to education, attack on Christian communities, mass abduction of school children, targeted attack/kidnap of clergy for ransom, abduction, force conversion and marriage of Christian minors, girls/married women.
There is the issue of suppression of public expressions of Christians, the denial of Certificates of Occupancy to build Churches in Sharia states, treatment of Christians with contempt, hostility and suspicion and, in most extreme cases, forcing Christians to evacuate their ancestral land for Fulani herdsmen are also examples of persecution of Christians in Nigeria particularly in the north.
There is currently an ongoing case of 4 Christians who were abducted from Zalaki in Bassa LGA area of Plateau state and taken to Bauchi state and allegedly converted to Islam, including a married woman. The four victims are: Loveth, whose name was changed to Maryam; Vivian, whose name was changed to Fatima; Janet, whose name was changed to Fa’iza; and Antonia, whose name was changed to Zainab. Their case is currently being pursued. These women were taken away only for their families to receive letters from the Bauchi State Sharia’h Commission notifying them about their alleged conversion.
There is also the case of 17-year-old Faith Barnabas, who was abducted and converted to Islam. Even when a Court ordered that she should be released to her mother, the Sharia Commission has refused to obey the court order, and they have kept the girl in an orphanage and denied her mother access to her. There was the case of Jennifer, whom it took intense pressure before she was eventually rescued.
Developments in Plateau State over the past three months, from July through early October 2026 is deeply concerning. With seeming efforts, there has been a renewed pattern of attacks in several parts of the state, particularly in Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Mangu, and Bokkos, all in the northern senatorial zone. These communities bearing the significant proportion of the casualty area are predominantly Christian farming communities. Sometimes we equally experience attacks against herders and other communities out of frustration and attempts of inhabitants of these communities to protect themselves from their attackers in what they perceive out of failure of the government security outfits.