Press Release
“Nigeria: Young Christians Kidnapped”

17 April 2026

The Universal Christian Church of the New Jerusalem strongly condemns and expresses deep apprehension over the abduction of seventeen young Christians on 15 April in Benue State, Nigeria.

These young people, aged between eighteen and twenty, were travelling by bus along the Makurdi-Otukpo road to sit for their university entrance exams when about twenty Fulani militiamen stopped the vehicle near Taraku. The passengers were forced to march barefoot into the bush and towards a detention camp in the Amla forest, where other captives were already being held hostage.

Such a despicable act against defenceless young people is intended to instil fear into daily life and make no Christian feel safe anywhere. This terrorist attack is further evidence of an ongoing strategy to eradicate the Christian presence from these lands by targeting their physical safety and future prospects.

The Church shares in the anguish of the abductees’ families and prays to the Lord that He may watch over these young people and bring them back safe and sound to their loved ones. The Church calls down for human and Divine Justice upon all those who perpetrate violence against the little ones and the innocent.

“My soul also is sorely troubled.
But You, O Lord — how long?”
(Sal 6:4)