Rev. Bobbo Paschal was abducted by Fulani Islamists on November 17, 2025
Bobbo Paschal, parish priest of St. Stephen, Kushe, Gudu in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State in northern Nigeria, was abducted by Fulani Islamists in the early hours of November 17, 2025, according to a statement by the chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Kaduna, Christian Okewu Emmanuel. “During the attack, many others were abducted, and the brother of Rev. Fr. Anthony Yero was killed,” the statement added.
Kidnappings and killings of pastors have become endemic, spanning the decades since the emergence of Boko Haram and other jihadist groups around the turn of the millennium, and especially following their 2010 declaration to eliminate Christians.
Sending a clear message to Christians
The beheading of the Adamawa Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) chairman in January 2020 was intended by Boko Haram to send a clear message to the Christian community.
The more recent kidnapping of Rev. Paul Musa along with his wife in 2023 in Borno State in the northeast—and their continued captivity even after ransom was offered—is a continuation of the group’s long-running campaign against Christianity.
Earlier this year, Boko Haram abducted and later released a local partner of Christian Solidarity International (CSI), Father Alphonsus Afina, in Borno State.
Fulani militias copy Boko Haram tactics
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, the area between northern and southern Nigeria, Fulani militia groups engage in similar tactics.
“Radical Islamic terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Fulani Islamist militia, who have been linked to Boko Haram, have embarked on a campaign to kill, destroy property, and enslave Christians,” Venerable Mark Mukan, former CAN Chairman of Bassa Local Government Council in Plateau State, told CSI.
“They further impoverish communities by kidnapping Christian women, raping them with the intent to impregnate them with Muslim children, and forcing villages to pay them money. It is a sad and devastating campaign against Christians in central Nigeria.”
Pastor’s widow recounts ordeal
Rev. James Audu Issa, a pastor who served with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) for 20 years, was kidnapped from his village of Ekati in Kwara State, west-central Nigeria, by a Fulani Islamist militia and ultimately killed.
His wife, Beshi James, recounted her ordeal to CSI, explaining that armed men stormed their mission house around 11 p.m. on August 27, 2025, and took her husband away. “They got in touch with the family and demanded 100 million naira [equivalent to more than USD $68,000]. For about 40 days, we went back and forth negotiating,” she said.
Members of the church, the village, the broader community, family members, and the church leadership contributed to raising the five million naira eventually paid to the kidnappers. “It was devastating for the village when they learned of the killing of Rev. James Issa,” said the district church council (DCC) secretary.
The family were only informed of his death around 10 days after it occurred. “The kidnappers told us he was dead, but we didn’t believe them. We demanded to speak with two church members abducted with him,” Beshi James said through an interpreter.
Forced to dig pastor’s grave
“It was only after their ransom was paid and they were released that they confirmed he had been killed, and that they were forced to dig his grave and bury him. We didn’t see his corpse—no one can go into that area. Later, the kidnappers called again to repeat that he was dead.”
Beshi James has been unable to return to their village since the kidnapping and killing. She is currently living in a rented apartment in the town of Pategi with her children.
The DCC secretary told CSI that the church is preparing a memorial service for Rev. Issa on November 22.
Pastors killed, church members abducted
Rev. Anthony Lamba was kidnapped on July 24, 2025, along with Christiana Anthony and another person, Danlami Zana, while working on their farm in Southern Kaduna. Rev. Alari Alari, Chairman of the ECWA Kasuwan Magani DCC, said, “His wife was later released after paying a five million Naira ransom. The kidnappers then demanded a motorcycle. While the community was raising money to buy it, the kidnappers claimed Rev. Anthony fell seriously ill and died in captivity.”
Similarly, Rev. Yahaya Kambasaya, a pastor with the United Church of Christ in Nigeria (UCCN), also known as HEKAN, was killed during an attack on October 28 in which 20 church members were abducted.
The HEKAN president, Rev. Amos Kiri, said, “The bandits invaded the community and began shooting sporadically, capturing many. Rev. Kambasaya and a few others hid on a nearby farm until the gunfire ended. Believing the attackers had left, he came out of hiding but was shot in the back. The bullet penetrated his chest, and he died immediately.”
Days earlier, on October 19, four members of the HEKAN Kakude local church branch were kidnapped. They remain in captivity.
Shot to death in church
Rev. Emmanuel Na’allah Auta, pastor of Bege Baptist Church in Yaribori village of neighboring Katsina State, northern Nigeria, was killed on July 11 during an evening worship service.
A church member told CSI, “About 20 armed Fulani Islamists entered the church, shooting and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ Rev. Na’allah stepped between the members and the attackers, asking people to remain calm, but they shot and killed him and another member, Samaila Gidan Taro, and took away a woman.”
Targeting of pastors is “logical”
The Islamists’ targeting of pastors and church leaders fits into their overall strategy, Venerable Mark Mukan believes.
“Why not the pastors, if the aim is to destroy the Church and Christians—as Boko Haram and Fulani jihadist militia have made their mission in central and northeastern Nigeria? It is logical to go after the pastors.”
CSI partners note that often it is Christian leaders who have a high standing in their communities who are abducted and killed, sometimes even after ransoms have been paid. The idea is to detach the community from its center, making it easier to destroy those Christian communities.
Apart from inflicting a blow on Christian communities, Mukan points out that the kidnappings are “lucrative” for the Islamists as they generate wealth through ransom payments from churches and Christian communities.
