CV NEWS FEED // Christian communities in central Nigeria are reeling after Fulani militias killed at least 28 people in a series of violent attacks across Plateau State over the past month, targeting rural villages and Christian families in their homes and fields.
In Bassa County, armed Fulani herdsmen struck multiple villages between March and April, killing nine Christians in ambushes, Morning Star News reported. On April 7, Fulani herdsmen struck Hwrra village, just a day after militias attacked the nearby village of Hukke, where several Christians narrowly escaped with their lives.
Local leaders are calling for immediate government intervention, as the violence, which many describe as systematic, continues to escalate.
“[These ambushes are] part of a disturbing trend of attacks that have claimed the lives of Christians in the last four weeks,” Joseph Chudu Yonkpa, a local youth leader, told Morning Star News.
Yonkpa detailed a string of killings dating back to March 13. Farmers have been ambushed on their land, and others were stabbed or shot in broad daylight. He described the violence as calculated.
“The atrocities committed by Fulani militias against Christians here extends beyond ambushes and attacks, as their cattle have been grazing on our farms with impunity, rendering countless families jobless and hungry as their only source of livelihood is destroyed,” Yonkpa said. “The continued killings and destruction of our Christians’ means of livelihood are deliberate attempts to turn our Christian communities into a lawless one.”
He urged Nigerian authorities to act swiftly to arrest and prosecute those responsible.
The crisis in Bassa reflects a wider pattern of attacks across Plateau State, according to Morning Star News. In Bokkos County, Fulani herdsmen killed 19 Christians in March alone. One of the deadliest incidents occurred March 28 in Ruwi village, where 10 Christians attending a wake were slaughtered, according to local resident Kefas Mallau.
“The Christian victims were mostly women, and the herdsmen who attacked them invaded the house where prayers were being held for a deceased member of the community,” Mallau said. “Some of the victims were shot while others were cut with machetes by the terrorists.”
Militants murdered a pastor’s widow who was 84, her son, and two grandchildren in Pyakmalu village March 6 and killed five Christians in Hurti village March 3. In many cases, attackers shot victims or set homes ablaze.
Pastors of the area confirmed the attack and painted a grim picture of constant fear and violence.
“The sight of numerous corpses and the frequent need to conduct mass burials is something no minister wishes to experience, yet it has become our reality,” Pastor Ayuba Matawal told Morning Star News. “Daily kidnappings, molestation and rape of Christian women, particularly in rural villages across north-central Nigeria, especially in Plateau state, have become disturbingly common.”
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Ruth Ki, a cybersecurity expert from the region, reported that more than 1,100 Christians have been killed in Bassa County since 2001 and nearly 27,000 farmlands have been destroyed.
“These figures are not mere statistical abstractions. Each fatality signifies a life violently cut short,” Ki said. “Each destroyed farmland represents a collapsed means of livelihood, plunging entire households into food insecurity and economic vulnerability. Beyond the data lies a grim humanitarian reality: communities destabilized, survivors left without psychosocial support, and local economies decimated.”
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CatholicVote has previously reported on the targeted violence against Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where Fulani militias seek to displace Christian populations and claim their land. The killings often follow a clear pattern of religious and territorial aggression, contributing to Nigeria’s designation as the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian.
Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List confirms the crisis. Nigeria accounts for 69% of Christian deaths worldwide, and the country’s Middle Belt is a hotspot for extremist violence.