By Mike Odeh James and Izhi Bitrus Adamu
KADUNA — Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) fighters abducted five Christians including the village chief from Kikwari in Kajuru County, Kaduna State, on April 27, 2026, and they are yet to be freed.
The assault came two weeks after Kikwari made its second extortion payment to the same militia—proof that compliance buys no safety. More than 40 residents have since fled, and those who remain are too frightened to return to their farms.
‘He went to the farm and never came back’
“I stayed back to do the house chores. By 8 a.m. we got calls that Fulani Terrorists had attacked farmers in the fields,” Tazia Ayuba, a 19-year-old wife and native of Kikwari, told TruthNigeria. “We waited for them to return. When they started coming back, I looked for my husband but didn’t see him. I was told he was among those kidnapped. They also took his father, the village chief, and his brother.”
Her husband left that morning to earn something for the family. He has not returned. “I am praying that my husband and the others come back home safely,” Ayuba said. “I am begging the international community to help us.”
Another resident, Grace Ikimi Ayuba, described the pattern: “Even before, we had this feeling that the Fulani Terrorists would come to our farms and dig out our crops and feed them to their livestock. They would ask us to pay money for our safety. We knew it was a matter of time.”
A village taxed into hunger
The kidnapping was the latest blow in a calculated campaign of economic strangulation. In March 2026, residents paid about $368 to access their own farmlands. In April, they paid another $294 under renewed threat. Despite both payments, the militia returned—this time to take people.
Fidelis Makama, a farmer, confirmed the militia laid a deliberate ambush on farmers heading to work. Five were seized; one broke free and raised the alarm. “They keep making demands—$364 or items we do not have. Even after we paid the last levy, they still attacked,” said a second survivor, whose husband, father-in-law (the village chief), and son were all seized.
Makama said the community has reported every attack to the Nigerian Army, the police, and the Kaduna State Government. None has acted. He spoke on condition his face not be shown.
“The Kaduna State government may not be happy with me,” he said.
A Middle Belt pattern: tax, kidnap, kill
What Kikwari endures is part of a documented, widening pattern across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where Christian farming communities face the same cycle: militia blockades, extortion, and violence regardless of compliance.
In Benue State’s Agatu and Apa counties, Fulani Terrorists have waged sustained farm ambushes and mass displacement. In southern Taraba State, farming communities live in permanent fear of ambush. In Plateau State, villages across Barkin Ladi, Riyom, and Bassa counties report near-identical cycles—with the same official inaction.
TruthNigeria’s field documentation has been cited in U.S. Congressional hearings, where scholars described the campaign as systematic ethnic and religious persecution targeting Christian farmers.
Succor where the state will not
With the Nigerian state largely absent, the U.S.-based Equipping the Persecuted (ETP) has become a lifeline, supplying food and aid to widows, orphans, and elderly survivors.
KAJURU CRISIS – Fear, Displacement Hit Kaduna Communities: SILVERBIRD NEWS24 (Excerpt)
In February 2026, ETP delivered rice and emergency cash to Kikwari after months of starvation. That aid kept the community alive but could not protect them from what came next.
The Kaduna State Government has rehabilitated fighters it calls “repentant” members of the Fulani Ethnic Militia—men linked to the killing of thousands of Christians—while victims, overwhelmingly Christian, have received no compensation.
Since the April 27 abductions, more than 40 residents have left Kikwari.
Washington watches as the captives remain
In Washington, pressure is mounting. U.S. lawmakers, including Congressmen Riley Moore (R-WV), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), and Robert Aderholt (R-AL), have pressed the Nigerian government to free the captives, with Moore urging forceful American action.
As of May 20, 2026—more than three weeks after the raid—the five captives, including the village chief, remain in terrorist camps. No payment has secured their release, and the Nigerian government has yet to comment publicly or mount any rescue.
The kidnapping of a village chief signals to every Christian farming community that no one is too prominent to be taken, that no payment buys security, and that the Nigerian state will not intervene.
Tazia Ayuba is still waiting for her husband. Her father-in-law and brother-in-law remain missing. Her plea is direct: act now. The Nigerian government, so far, has offered nothing.
Mike Odeh James and Izighe Bitrus Adamu are conflict reporters for Truthnigeria.
