Founder of Abel Damina Ministries International, Pastor Abel Damina, has raised the alarm over the sustained attacks on Christians in Northern Nigeria, revealing that he personally suffered several such assaults.
In a video shared on his social media pages, Dr. Damina described himself as “a victim of numerous gruesome attacks” and accused some individuals of attempting to downplay the crisis, which many have referred to as “Christian genocide”.
LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that US President Donald Trump recently criticised the Nigerian government over the killings of Christians, threatening to intervene militarily if the situation persists.
While some Nigerian officials dismissed the reports as false, insisting that the violence was driven by terrorism and resource conflicts affecting both Muslims and Christians, Pastor Damina countered that Christian persecution in the North predates the rise of terrorism and the farmers-herders crisis.
He recounted a series of harrowing incidents, including the burning of his family’s church and home in Samaru, Zaria, during the 1980s. “We woke up one morning to see people with machetes pouring petrol on our house and the church. Everything was burnt to ashes. We narrowly escaped,” he recalled.
The cleric also referenced the Maitatsine uprisings of the 1980s, the Kaduna religious crisis of 2000, and the 2003 Miss World riots that claimed hundreds of lives.
Speaking further, he narrated how he once escaped death during a religious clash in Kaduna, where a pastor friend, Rev. NorthCourt Andrew, was killed. “They caught him because he was wearing a collar. They hacked him to death and buried him there,” Damina said.
He lamented that religious violence has persisted for decades, often targeting Christians. “Whenever these attacks happen, they shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ while destroying lives and property. For someone to say there is no such thing in Northern Nigeria shows they’ve never experienced it,” he said.
The cleric cited incidents in Plateau, Benue, Borno, and Southern Kaduna, where entire communities have reportedly been displaced by extremists. He questioned the existence of numerous Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in a country without natural disasters.
“When you live in a country where you don’t know what will become of you if you go out, it’s almost as if there’s no government,” he stated, urging the Nigerian authorities to act swiftly to restore security and return displaced persons to their homes.
Damina expressed gratitude to voices like that of President Trump for bringing international attention to the plight of persecuted Christians, adding that he remained hopeful that “the menace will soon come to an end.”
“The government of Nigeria needs to do something quickly. Let the people go back to their villages and farmlands so they can live normal lives again,” he urged.
