Insecurity: Oyedepo responds to attacks on worshippers

Bishop David Oyedepo, the leader of Living Faith Church Worldwide, has expressed deep concern about Nigeria’s growing insecurity and has called on Christians to hold coordinated midnight prayers.

This comes after recent attacks on churches where worshippers were killed and others kidnapped.

Speaking during the 4th Pre-Shiloh Encounter Service on Sunday, he said the violent incidents of the past two weeks show that urgent spiritual action is needed.

He warned that innocent blood has been shed and declared that those responsible “will pay with their lives.”

Oyedepo said he had been giving warnings for the past 15 years and stressed that he is strongly connected to Nigeria. He added that no power is greater than the power of God.

He instructed all church members to pray from midnight to 1 a.m., describing the prayer session as a “midnight raid” against those attacking churches.

He questioned how armed men could invade a church during worship, kill people, abduct others, and nothing meaningful would happen in response. He said the “God of justice is rising” to act.

He explained that his call for prayer is in line with the Bible, noting that when God steps in, the pride and arrogance of violent people are brought down.

He insisted that Nigeria would not fall into chaos and that the message he was delivering came from a burning prophetic conviction.

Oyedepo urged members to anoint their homes and join the midnight prayer, insisting that every attack on the church would be answered with divine justice.

He also warned against making human life a political issue and encouraged everyone to join hands and pray for one hour between midnight and 1 a.m.

Between 2009 and 2025, schools across northern Nigeria were repeatedly attacked, mostly by Boko Haram insurgents.

The first major incident happened in July 2009 in Maiduguri when classrooms at Success International Private School were burned.

More attacks followed in 2010 with classrooms at Yerwa Primary School destroyed.

In 2012, school attacks increased sharply as several primary schools in Maiduguri were burned and a bomb destroyed Gomari Costain Primary School and others. Schools in Yobe, Gombe and other communities were also hit, with classrooms, offices and police posts destroyed.

In 2013, several schools in Maiduguri and Biu were attacked, leaving students and teachers dead.

Students were also killed while writing exams, and at least 50 students died in a major attack at the College of Agriculture in Gujba.

In 2014, attacks became more brutal with hundreds of students killed in Gwoza,

Konduga and Buni Yadi, and over 200 girls abducted from Chibok, drawing global attention. Suicide bombings and shootings continued in Kano, Potiskum, Mubi and other towns.

In 2015, Boko Haram occupied a primary school in Damasak and held more than 300 pupils hostage until they were rescued.

A suicide bomber attacked a college in Potiskum, and a bomb-making factory was discovered in an abandoned school in Dikwa.

By the late 2010s and early 2020s, attacks shifted to mass kidnappings.

In December 2020, 344 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, Katsina State, though they were later released. In early 2021, 279 girls were kidnapped from Jangebe in Zamfara State.

That same year, 120 students were taken from Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna, with some released immediately and others over several months. By the end of 2021, around 1,000 schoolchildren had been kidnapped across the country.

In March 2022, gunmen attacked a train travelling from Abuja to Kaduna, killing eight passengers and kidnapping dozens. The last hostages were released months later.

A similar train attack in southern Nigeria in 2023 led to the kidnapping of about 30 people who were later rescued.

In March 2024, gunmen in military uniforms stormed Kuriga High School in Kaduna and abducted more than 100 students.

Initial reports claimed 280 were taken, but the military later confirmed that 137 were rescued.