Throughout Nigeria’s troubled northern states Christian believers headed to church on Christmas eve with brave faces. Even in the northernmost state of Sokoto, the heart of Nigeria’s Islamic region, more than 5,000 Christians are heading to church this week, according to Rev. Oro Yakubu, administrator of 30 congregations of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA). “We have 8 congregations of ECWA in the Sokoto metropolis and more than 1,000 of our believers will be worshipping on Christmas,” Yakubu tells The Epoch Times. The citywide number of Christians is above 5,000, he said. Yet, the scourge of kidnapping for ransom struck his own family on Nov. 9 when bandits abducted his wife from a commercial vehicle on a public road. “It was God’s miracle that she was released three days later,” Yakubu said, but the ransom paid was 2.5 million Naira, equivalent to $5,000. Such ransoms have crippled thousands of Christian …