By Abigail Hofland | May 29, 2025

Nigeria (MNN) — 42 believers are dead after an attack by Muslim cattle herders in Northern Nigeria last week. Please pray for the families reeling from this devastation.

More believers are killed in Nigeria each year than in all other countries combined. In the country’s Muslim North, violence against Christian minorities has been happening for years.

“Unfortunately, what’s been happening more recently, is the atrocities and attacks are happening more in the middle belt states where Christianity and Islam collide,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations.

While attacks on Christians have often been perpetrated by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram, Saturday’s attacks were carried out by the Fulani, a nomadic tribe of cattle herders.

“That’s really where the tensions start. They target farmers, who are primarily Christian, and they will graze their cattle and go through their lands,” Kelley says.

When farmers confront the Fulani, violence often precedes or subsumes negotiation. But while the world spotlights the Fulani’s aggression, Kelley points out their spiritual need. They are among a third of the world’s population unreached with the Gospel — a stark contrast to Nigeria’s Christian people groups concentrated in the South.

“There are dozens and dozens like the Fulani, like the Hausa, like the Kanuri, that are 99% Muslim. That is where our indigenous network exclusively works,” he says.

Unknown Nations partners with over 200 believers in Northern Nigeria. Kelley says his team members are taking the Gospel to one of the world’s most dangerous areas.

“Islam, unfortunately, in Northern Nigeria especially, just brings so much destruction, despair, aggression,” he says. “There’s just no peace in their lives, so missionaries are having a ton of fruit in these areas of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, churches in Nigeria’s South remain vibrant and committed to Christ.

“But unfortunately, their enthusiasm for the Lord hasn’t really translated into mobilization into the North,” Kelley points out.

He says Christian missionaries from southern Nigeria are few and far between. Yet, the most effective ministries are those based in the Middle Belt and the North. Please pray for an expansion of missionary presence in these areas, and pray for the missionaries already working in this region.

“And as we pray for the church of Nigeria to get mobilized,” Kelley encourages, “we need to look in the mirror and say, ‘How are we mobilized?’”

Header photo courtesy of Unknown Nations.

Original Article Posted Here: https://www.mnnonline.org/news/fulani-attacks-highlight-need-for-missionaries-in-northern-nigeria/