A routine Christian crusade in Agboda community, Mararaba Udege, was thrown into chaos on Monday evening after suspected armed herdsmen reportedly attacked a young man on his way to the gathering, causing a wave of panic that forced worshippers to flee.
The incident happened between 7pm and 8pm in the quiet settlement located in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, where residents had gathered for a church crusade organised by Dr Daniel Ukpo.
Ukpo, who spoke with the media by phone, described the atmosphere as tense and frightening after news broke that herdsmen had descended on the community.
According to him, “One of the youths in the community was attacked with a machete while on his motorcycle, and his attackers seized his motorcycle. When the news got to the village where we were holding the crusade, confusion set in, and people started running in different directions.”
He said the crusade ended abruptly as fear gripped participants.
Ukpo explained that “everywhere was tense and people started running helplessly for safety,” adding that the scare was heightened by the repeated attacks residents in the Mararaba Udege axis had endured over time.
He recalled his recent visit to a nearby settlement, Ochimi, where a traditional ruler voiced deep distress over ongoing insecurity. “The traditional ruler confessed to me that I should pray for them because herdsmen are eating their crops and killing his people,” he said.
Ukpo expressed strong concern over what he described as a glaring absence of security support for communities in the area. He cited recent incidents, including the killing of a resident a few days earlier by armed Fulani attackers.
“People are being killed on the road, farms and are not reported. The killing in this axis is worrisome. The government must come to the rescue of these communities,” he warned.
He noted that this was not the first time religious gatherings had been interrupted. “There were times we organised crusades and Fulani herders stopped us from proceeding, not once, not twice,” he said.
Ukpo stressed that the affected villages feel abandoned and helpless. “The sad thing is that nobody is here to challenge these armed herdsmen who are destroying farms and communities in this axis. The people here are tired, but because they do not have anywhere to relocate, they are just here at the mercy of armed herdsmen.”
