On the evening of February 9th, 2026, armed gunmen stormed a Catholic church in Benue State during night prayers and abducted 9 worshippers. Nine human beings, kneeling in prayer, dragged away at gunpoint from a house of God.
This follows the mass kidnapping of churchgoers in Kaduna State just weeks earlier—a group that was only released after an undisclosed ransom was paid, despite the government's official "no ransom" policy. Let us be honest: the government's "no ransom" policy is a fiction. Ransoms are paid. Bandits are enriched. And the cycle of kidnapping expands because it is profitable.
The targeting of places of worship is not random. It is strategic. Churches and mosques are soft targets—unarmed congregations gathered at predictable times in known locations. When the state fails to protect these spaces, it sends a message that faith itself is under siege.
The NLM asks every Nigerian to consider this reality: - You are not safe in your home—home invasions are epidemic. - You are not safe on the road—kidnapping checkpoints operate with impunity. - Your children are not safe in school—mass abductions are now routine. - And now, you are not safe in your place of worship.
Where, exactly, does the Nigerian state expect its citizens to exist?
The NLM demands: - Immediate deployment of security to all places of worship in vulnerable states, beginning with Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, and Niger States. - The establishment of community rapid-response units empowered with legal authority and resources. - An end to the profitable ransom economy that incentivizes kidnapping, backed by enforcement, not just policy declarations. - The immediate rescue of all 9 abducted worshippers without ransom payment.
To the Presidency: prayers without protection are just words. If you cannot secure the sanctuary, you have no moral authority to govern.
