AFRICA/NIGERIA – Catholic priest attacked and robbed in Benue State

Abuja – A Catholic priest was attacked by armed men in Benue State, central Nigeria. The incident took place at around midnight on November 6, as Father Peter Kwen, a priest of the Diocese of Gboko and headmaster of St Anthony’s Catholic Secondary School in Zaki Biam, was returning from Makurdi, the state capital.
Along the road linking Makurdi to Zaki Biam, in Ukum Local Government Area, the priest was ambushed by a group of armed men. After robbing him, the attackers fled, leaving him injured and unconscious on the side of the road.
According to initial reports, the attackers may have belonged to a gang of Fulani herders, although their identity and the precise nature of the attack have yet to be established.
The assault took place against a backdrop of persistent insecurity in Benue State and, more broadly, across Nigeria’s central region, known as the Middle Belt. For years, the area has been plagued by violence, mainly linked to conflicts between settled farming communities and nomadic herders, particularly over control of land and water resources. These tensions are compounded by the activities of armed gangs responsible for killings, kidnappings for ransom and attacks on villages.
According to a report by the European Union Agency for Asylum , 406 security incidents resulting in 1,338 deaths were recorded in Benue State between January 2024 and August 2025. Violence affected numerous local government areas across the state, including Ukum, where Father Kwen was attacked. The same agency estimates that, in February 2025, more than 457,000 people were internally displaced in Benue, mainly as a result of intercommunal clashes and conflicts between farmers and herders.
Members of religious communities are also exposed to this insecurity. Just a few weeks before the attack on Father Kwen, on 13 October , Father John Inalegwu Otache, a priest of the Diocese of Otukpo, also in Benue State, was kidnapped. He was released on 18 October .
However, Nigeria’s security crisis takes different forms in different parts of the country. In the North-East, the jihadist insurgency led by Boko Haram and its splinter group ISWAP has been active for years, while armed criminal gangs and groups involved in kidnappings, raids and territorial disputes are particularly active in the North-West and the central area.

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