Anti-Christian Violence Kills 60 In Nigeria’s Plateau State (Worthy News Investigation)

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – The death toll of recent attacks against mainly Christian farming communities in Nigeria’s north-central Plateau state has risen to over 60 people, Worthy News learned Sunday.

In the latest incidents, armed Fulani herders struck Plateau villages amid land disputes and growing Islamic pressure on Christians in the region, officials said.

As of Friday morning, Bokkos Local Government Area official Farmasum Fuddang said 48 bodies were recovered, revising the earlier reported toll of 10.

“We released the statement about the killing of 10 people in [the villages of] Mangor Tamiso, Daffo, Manguna, Hurti, and Tadai on Wednesday morning,” the official told Nigerian media.

“Since then, we have recovered [about] 40 more bodies. We even buried them around 7 p.m. [local time] on Thursday using torchlights. It was the community members who discovered the bodies of their loved ones,” Fuddang explained.

The Red Cross said those killed were “mostly women and children.”

Earlier, at least 11 people were killed in Ruwi village of the Bokkos Local Government Area on March 27, Worthy News reported.

ARMED MILITANTS

In comments shared with Worthy News, Ruwi resident Tajot Stephen Alexander recalled that “armed militants surprised us with their assault. We lost 11 valued lives, including a pregnant woman.”

The Plateau chapter of the Gan Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria called the killings “barbaric.”

However, it also said that Fulani herders “should be the ones complaining about land grabbing” by [Christian] farming communities.

Yet critics say that Christians have been singled out by predominantly Muslim groups, including Fulani herders as well as Islamic militants and criminals known as “bandits.”

The military said that troops, “alongside local vigilante groups,” had engaged with the attackers and “efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing criminals.”

However, Christians suggested these actions have done little to end the attacks by Fulani herders and feared Islamic groups such as Boko Haram.

Besides killing Christians, they also kidnapped believers, including women such as Maria, a Christian mother. LI would rather die trying to escape than stay here and become Muslim,” she said in remarks shared with Worthy News.

IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

She recalled that when “Boko Haram militants” found her, they gave her an impossible choice: “deny Jesus or die.”Maria, who uses one name, said she chose Jesus Christ – then “scaled a fence in the darkness” as bullets flew past her, not knowing if she would see her children again.

Brian Orme, CEO of the Global Christian Relief charity working in the area, told Worthy News that her words “reveal a deep and courageous faith.”

He noted during a field trip that “Islamic extremist groups like Boko Haram are targeting our brothers and sisters with devastating violence.” He said, “They burned churches and entire Christian villages, forced believers to flee their homes [and] kidnapped Christian women and children.”

Yet “We must be tried if we believe in Jesus,” he recalled Safiratu, another woman abducted by Boko Haram, as telling him after surviving captivity. “Even though he came to this world, he was persecuted. That’s a message for us that we may face difficulty, but we can stand firm in Christ,” the woman reportedly said.

His group is currently raising funds for Christian women who are starting businesses to support their families, as well as training programs for young teachers, healthcare workers, and “Trauma survivors finding healing and sharing their faith.”

Additionally, his group helps “churches being planted in areas of intense persecution.”

Among the most devastating incidents was the December 2023 massacre in Plateau State, where nearly 300 Christians were killed in coordinated attacks during the Christmas season.

MORE KILLINGS

Earlier that same year, in April 2023, between 130 and 200 people were killed in Mangu, also in Plateau State.

Similar incidents also occurred in other states, as Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed and kidnapped in 2024, according to the latest report from advocacy group Open Doors.

Some 3,100 Christians were killed, and 2,830 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, far more than other countries in the same year, according to Open Doors estimates.

It has ranked Nigeria 7th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations, where it says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

Despite the reported difficulties, Christianity is spreading in Nigeria from around 40 percent of the population in 2001 to nearly 50 percent today, according to Christian researchers.

The population identifying as Christians has risen from about 60 million in 2000 to roughly 96 million in 2020, with projections pointing to over 155 million by 2050.

“Let’s hold on to God and go to church. That is what will strengthen us,” Maria tells others after escaping her Islamic kidnappers. “With God, all things are possible.”

(With additional reporting by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent.)

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