Persecuted Christians Gather in Prayer Amid U.S.-Nigeria Counterterrorism Push

By Masara Kim

(Abuja) They gathered for prayer with the echoes of slaughter just a few miles away on Sunday, but many sensed good news. 

Hundreds of worshippers huddled at the National Christian Centre in Abuja last weekend for two days of prayer for the nation’s future. Yet, even as casualty reports from rural attacks trickled in, U.S.-Nigeria counterterrorism cooperation showed signs of progress.

The gathering on Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3, tagged “Operation Psalm 91,” was led by former World Bank Vice President Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili and American charismatic author and preacher Cindy Jacobs.

Organizers described the event as an intercession for Nigeria, coming amid reports of the arrest of a leading Fulani figure suspected of orchestrating militia raids in Plateau and surrounding states — an arrest credited to the ongoing U.S.-Nigeria security partnership.

More than 500 worshippers drawn from each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital Abuja, prayed and wept at the altar for Nigeria’s leaders, for communities enduring terror attacks, and for victims of past violence. Participants sought forgiveness from God and from one another for wrongs committed by past leaders against specific communities.

Prayer amid fresh violence

But reports of fresh bloodshed were on everyone’s mind.

At least two people were killed in a late-night attack on Friday, Oct. 2, on a mining settlement known as Kuru Jenta in Jos South County, on the southern outskirts of Jos, according to local leaders. TruthNigeria learned the attack was launched around 8 p.m.

It was the latest in a surge of violence south of Jos in recent weeks that has prompted renewed U.S. engagement.

On Thursday, the previous day, 500 miles away in Nigeria’s Southeast, gunmen identified as Fulani herdsmen reportedly abducted passengers from two commercial buses traveling from Lagos to Onitsha and Owerri along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway early Thursday, Oct. 1 — as Nigerians marked the country’s 66th Independence anniversary — according to Sahara Reporters.

In Benue State, more than 2 million people remain displaced, with at least 22 Christian farming communities across Agatu and Logo counties still completely deserted, according to local leaders and rights monitors. Hundreds of families are stranded in temporary host communities or unable to harvest crops as armed groups continue to occupy farmlands during a critical agricultural period.

Despite the grim reports, congregants had taken encouragement from news of the arrest of Mahmoud Adam, a suspect linked to massacres of Christians in Plateau State, an achievement credited to the U.S.-Nigeria counterterrorism partnership.

‘God has a special plan for Nigeria’

Jacobs, a leading figure in the New Apostolic Reformation movement which emphasizes the present-day offices of prophet and apostle, addressed the gathering via Zoom. She is known for counseling political leaders and speaking at mass crusades globally.

She returned to Nigeria in May 2026 after a 23-year absence to minister in Abuja, where she delivered a widely publicized prophecy predicting supernatural financial provision and infrastructural expansion for Africa’s most populous nation. Ezekwesili credited Jacobs with inspiring the crusade.

“God has a special plan for Nigeria,” Jacobs told the gathering. “Christians in America and all over the world are praying for you in Nigeria. Do not give up, keep trusting and you will be victorious.”

Operation Psalm 91 was structured in two parts: a National Day of Prayer and Repentance on the first day, and a National Day of Mourning on the second, aimed at ushering Nigeria into what organizers called its “prophetic phase.”

“The massacres, the bloodshed, the corruption and all that has kept this nation backward must stop,” female leader Ezekwesili said. “The cries of our children, our mothers, our fathers, those we have directly or indirectly killed by our actions and inactions have reached the heavens and the Lord wants us to humble ourselves and genuinely repent of our transgressions and then He will heal our land.”

Ezekwesili, who served as World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region from 2007 to 2012 overseeing development portfolios across 48 Sub-Saharan countries before becoming a prominent politician and rights advocate, was supported by more than half a dozen church leaders.

Among them was her husband, Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili, founding pastor of The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Garki, Abuja, and Pastor Esther Ibanga, founder of the Women Without Walls Initiative. Ibanga is the winner of the 32nd Niwano Peace Prize for promoting peace among different ethnic and religious groups in Jos.

A 40-year-old prophecy

Ibanga told TruthNigeria the gathering was tied to what she described as the 40th anniversary of a prophecy by the late British missionary Pa Sydney Elton — that Nigeria would become known worldwide for corruption, but would afterward become known for righteousness.

“In Nigeria today, this year 2026 is the 40th year of the prophecy of Pa Elton,” Ibanga said. “In May of this year, Prophetess Cindy Jacobs came to Nigeria. The Lord told her it was time to come and partner with the Nigerian church because it was time for the strongman of corruption to be pulled down so that Nigeria can enter into her prophetic destiny.”

She said the bloodshed defiling the land — from the Civil War to present-day banditry, kidnapping and massacres — has kept Nigeria from fulfilling that destiny.

“What was needed was a national day of repentance and prayer,” she said. “One of the things that has kept this nation in bondage is the bloodshed upon our land. The second thing the Lord laid on the hearts of our leaders was the national day of mourning. For the first time as Nigerians we sat down and reflected on the civil war and wept for the millions of souls that were lost.”

Ibanga also welcomed U.S. engagement on the killings in the Middle Belt.

“For the fact that they were able to bring it up at the global level, even in Congress, is a great sign and I pray that politics will not tamper with the kind of help we are supposed to receive,” she said. “It’s important that America speaks on the killings and ensures that the killings stop because that is all we want. Let the killings stop. Let people be free to live in their lands and practice whatever they want.”

Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter in Jos and senior editor at TruthNigeria.

Related