KADUNA STATE, Nigeria (BP) – The Nigerian Army killed a key Boko Haram commander, at least 10 Boko Haram terrorists and more than 70 terroristic bandits in ongoing defensive maneuvers in northeastern Nigeria since Jan. 11, ABC News and others reported.
Nigerian soldiers killed Abu Khalid, a Boko Haram commander in the Sambisa Forest, and 10 Boko Haram terrorists in a night raid Jan. 30 in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, army spokesman Sani Uba told ABC News. Additionally, soldiers killed about 70 terrorists in a series of military maneuvers since Jan. 11 that also destroyed several camps in Kaduna State in northwestern Nigeria that terrorists had used to attack vulnerable communities for many years, residents of the Kaura local government area in southern Kaduna State told CSW.
Welcoming the military’s response to violence against Christians in Nigeria, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission continues to call for an end to the persecution of Christians there.
“The horrific reports of Nigerian Christians being abducted and imprisoned simply for bearing the name of Christ should jolt every one of us to attention,” ERLC Interim President Gary Hollingsworth told Baptist Press. “Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria continue to endure unthinkable persecution, and the global Church must respond with fervent prayer, steadfast advocacy and unwavering solidarity to protect the freedom to worship without fear of persecution.”
In the same operation in which Nigerian soldiers killed the Boko Haram terrorists, soldiers rescued 11 individuals – five men, three women and three children, reported by My Christian Daily to be Christians – that armed assailants abducted Oct. 26, 2025, from the Kachia local government area. But more than 165 Christians kidnapped from three churches during worship services Jan. 18 remain missing.
“Even as we welcome signs that the Nigerian Army will confront these atrocities, we recognize that as long as these militant forces persist, Christians will be at risk,” Hollingsworth said. “We cannot avert our eyes or soften our voices until the lives of our brothers and sisters are protected and these persecutors are apprehended.
“Religious liberty is a cherished Baptist distinction, and Southern Baptists have long affirmed that every person – everywhere – deserves the freedom to worship without fear. We pray that justice will be done, captives will be freed, and the light of the Gospel will pierce even the deepest darkness.”
Terrorist attacks on Christians and others continue. On Jan. 30, Boko Haram killed at least 25 construction workers during an ambush Jan. 29 in the town of Sabon Gari in Borno State. In a separate attack, extremists with armed drones raided an army base in Sabon Gari, killing nine soldiers and two civilian task force members, and injuring about 16 security personnel, officials told ABC News.
Nigerian Christians and community leaders have long accused the Nigerian military of inadequately responding to terrorist attacks. The military’s new responses follow U.S. reported aims to encourage the Nigerian government to aggressively defend Christians from Islamic terrorist attacks that have persisted for more than a decade, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.
The military destroyed the Agwala, Rafin Gora, Randa and Ruwan Sanyi terrorist camps, and freed kidnap victims including Barnabas Zakaria and Hosea Barnabas from Doka in the Kajuru local government area, and Haruna Ummar, Timothy Musa, Hasat Ummar and Balkisu Ummar from the Kauru local government area, CSW reported.
Terrorists who fled the Nigerian military maneuvers are suspected of having participated in the abductions of Christians during worship services Jan. 18, CSW said. Among the 166 kidnap victims remaining captive are 13 members of one family.
“The continued captivity of the remaining victims and the fear and apprehension tormenting their families calls for urgent action to rescue them,” Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, CEO of CSW Nigeria, said in a press release. “Every effort must be made to secure the release of all kidnapping victims, to destroy every remaining terrorist camps in forested areas, and to rid both the state and the nation of a scourge that has devastated too many lives for far too long.”
Nmadu commended the military for providing medical aid to those rescued, for infrastructure repairs to the community and for providing greater security, but said the swift return of the captives “will help to rebuild the trust that was dented by initial official denials of the kidnappings.”
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