ABUJA, Nigeria — Terrorist attacks have forced a denomination to close 70 churches in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, while in the country’s northwest, Christians are celebrating the release of a kidnapped priest.

The Rev. Amos Mohzo, president of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that attacks by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have forced 70 congregations in Plateau state’s Mangu and Bokkos counties to stop services in the past two years.