Latest: Nasarawa Pastor Monday Habu Abducted as Church Demands Urgent Action

In the early hours of Wednesday, gunmen took a pastor from his community in Nasarawa State. The Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ says Rev. Monday Habu, its presiding pastor in Gudi Ginda, Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area, was kidnapped by gunmen in the early hours of October 28, 2026.

The church has called on the Nasarawa State Government and security agencies to intervene urgently, Blueprint reported. It condemned the abduction in a statement and demanded the immediate deployment of security personnel and increased patrols along the Akwanga-Gudi road, which it described as increasingly unsafe for residents and travellers.

One fact must be stated plainly at the start. At the time of filing, police had not officially confirmed the abduction. Blueprint reported that efforts to reach the Nasarawa State Police Command for official confirmation were unsuccessful, and that Habu’s whereabouts and the circumstances of the incident had yet to be independently confirmed by police.

The Bull Post reported the same position: attempts to reach the police command for official confirmation were unsuccessful.

Everything that follows about the abduction itself comes from the church’s statement as reported by those outlets. No perpetrators have been named. No motive has been established.

No ransom demand has been reported in the accounts opened for this article, and the identity of the abductors remains unknown.

Church Appeals to Abductors to Release Pastor Unharmed

The church appealed directly to the abductors to release Habu unharmed, describing him as a clergyman devoted to serving the poor and vulnerable. “We plead with the abductors: In the name of God you claim to serve, please release our Reverend unharmed. He is a man of God who serves the poor,” the statement said, as reported by both Blueprint and The Bull Post.

The appeal carried both grief and defiance. The church vowed not to allow fear to silence its members, insisting that it would continue to pray and demand adequate protection for residents. “We will not be silenced by fear.

We will continue to pray and demand security for our people,” the statement added, according to Blueprint.

Its demand to government was specific. “Nasarawa State Government and security agencies, the Akwanga-Gudi road and our rural communities are no longer safe. We need immediate deployment and patrol,” the statement said.

The church urged the state government, police and other security agencies to strengthen surveilance, increase patrols and deploy personnel to vulnerable communities to prevent further attacks.

Abduction Followed Release of Congregation Member

According to the church, Habu’s abduction occurred barely three days after the release of Daniel Philip Affiku, a member of the congregation who had also been kidnapped, Blueprint reported. The Bull Post reported the same sequence, saying the incident occurred barely three days after Affiku’s release and was part of a series of kidnappings recorded in the community earlier in the year.

The appeal came a day after the Nasarawa State House of Assembly raised the alarm over a resurgence of kidnappings across the state, Blueprint reported. During plenary on October 27, the Speaker of the Assembly, Danladi Jatau, expressed concern over frequent abductions in Lafia and other parts of the state, saying the incidents had left residents living in fear and disrupted economic activities.

The member representing Lafia Central, Solomon Yakubu Akwashiki, told the House that two people were abducted in Agyaragu, while further kidnappings had been reported in Agunji, also in the Lafia area, Blueprint reported. He called for urgent intervention to secure the release of victims and prevent further incidents.

Nasarawa Eggon Communities Report Repeated Abductions

The latest abduction also follows reports of repeated kidnappings in parts of Nasarawa Eggon, Blueprint reported. On October 10, reports from Mada Station in Nasarawa Eggon indicated that two people had been abducted in Angwan Mission, while secondary school teacher Solomon Musa Ogah was reportedly kidnapped in the early hours of the same week.

Residents appealed to the state government, the police, the local government council and the lawmaker representing Nasarawa Eggon West Constituency to strengthen security and facilitate the victims’ release, Blueprint reported. The reports raised fresh concerns about the safety of rural communities, with residents calling for more visible security operations to deter kidnappers.

Earlier in May, gunmen reportedly abducted seven people, including six students of Nasarawa State University, from an off-campus lodge in Gudi, Akwanga Local Government Area, Blueprint reported. The attack prompted police to intensify search-and-rescue operations, while a joint security team involving police, military, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and local vigilantes was mobilised to search for the victims.

Readers following attacks on Christians in Nigeria can see related coverage in a Christian Red Cross worker killed in an ambush in Sokoto, in a pastor’s wife and daughter held in Nigeria after a kidnapping, and in a Uganda court sentencing eight men for killing two evangelists.

For now, the church waits, and the road it named stays at the centre of its demand. Habu’s whereabouts are unknown, the circumstances have not been independently confirmed by police, and no one has said publicly who took him or why. The next news from Gudi Ginda could be a release, a rescue, or silence, and until it comes, a congregation that refused to be silenced by fear will keep praying for a pastor it describes simply as a man of God who serves the poor.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.