By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Save Nigeria Group USA (SNG USA) has condemned what it described as a mass terrorist slaughter in Niger State, warning that armed Islamist groups are intensifying a coordinated campaign of violence against Christian communities across northern Nigeria.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, from Washington, D.C., the group said the latest attack in Papari area of Borgu Local Government Area was a deliberate massacre of civilians and part of a wider pattern of ideologically driven terror.

Deadly Papari market attack

According to SNG USA, the attack occurred on Saturday, January 3, 2026, when heavily armed terrorists stormed the Kasuwan Daji Market in Demo village, emerging from forest enclaves linked to the Kainji National Park.

“Credible reports confirm that at least 42 civilians were killed, with later figures indicating the death toll may be as high as 60,” the statement said.

The group added that women and children were abducted, while the market was looted and burned to the ground. Among the victims, SNG USA said, were children who had only recently regained freedom after the November 2025 mass abduction of 315 students from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papari, but were allegedly re-abducted during the latest attack.

The statement further disclosed that days before the market massacre, gunmen attacked the residence of a local parish priest, vandalising religious property and narrowly missing the cleric.

Adamawa attacks and forced conversion threats

SNG USA also raised alarm over a separate wave of violence in Adamawa State, where it said militants of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked Christian villages around January 1, 2026.

According to the group, more than 50 homes were burned, civilians were killed, and a church was destroyed during the attacks. It said the assailants issued an ultimatum to residents: “Convert to Islam or die.”

The organisation claimed ISWAP had publicly declared Christians across Nigeria as legitimate targets, demanding conversion, payment of jizyah, or death. It linked similar attacks reported in Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara, Zamfara and Niger states to what it described as a nationwide escalation, possibly in retaliation for recent U.S.–Nigeria counterterrorism strikes.

Clergy targeting and abductions

The group also highlighted the continued targeting of clergy, demanding the release of Mrs. Sarah Achi and her daughter, who remain in captivity following the October 2025 kidnapping and killing of Venerable Edwin Achi, an Anglican priest abducted from his home in Southern Kaduna despite the payment of ransom.

Call for urgent action

While acknowledging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s condemnation of the Niger State attack, SNG USA said official statements alone were insufficient to halt the violence.

“Nigeria now faces an unchecked terror campaign in which the same communities are attacked, re-attacked, and re-abducted,” the group warned.

It called for immediate and aggressive security operations to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, including forest and national park hideouts; full accountability for what it described as failed protection and ransom-driven cycles of violence; and expanded international coordination, particularly with U.S. counterterrorism partners.

The group also urged a policy shift to allow the regulated arming and training of responsible adults in affected communities for lawful self-defence, arguing that disarming civilians while terrorists wield military-grade weapons had proven deadly.

“Not random banditry”

In its conclusion, SNG USA insisted that the violence sweeping across parts of Nigeria was not random criminality but an organised, ideologically motivated campaign.

“What is happening in Nigeria is not random banditry,” the statement said. “It is organised terror aimed at erasing Christian communities through killing, forced conversion, and mass displacement.”

The statement was signed by Stephen Osemwegie, President of Save Nigeria Group USA, and Victor Onyeka Ben, Director of Media.

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