Slaughter of Christians escalates in Plateau state, Nigeria

After slaughtering at least 50 Christians in one area of Plateau state, Nigeria in April, Fulani herdsmen this week killed five more in the same county, sources said.

In Bassa County, residents said Fulani herdsmen killed two Christians on Wednesday (June 4) in Nkienwhie village and three on Tuesday (June 3) in Kwall village.

“On 3 June, three Christians were killed in Kwall community when they were ambushed and attacked by Fulani herdsmen,” area youth leader Joseph Yonkpa told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News in a text message. “The three victims were shot and at the same time wounded with machetes.”

Yonkpa identified the three slain Christians as Sunday Ishaya, 37; Joshua Mishi, 51; and Range Kpeh, 32.

In May six area Christians were shot and wounded, and in April herdsmen killed 50 Christians in a single attack, he said.

“In April, more than 50 Christians were massacred by Fulani militias in Zike Kimakpa, a predominantly Christian community,” Yonkpa said. “We have been the continuous target of Fulani militias for over two decades, with scores of Christians killed, thousands displaced, and destruction of an unquantifiable number of properties and farm crops.”

He called on international organizations, the International Criminal Court, Non-Governmental Organizations, private individuals and others to join in demanding justice for Christians facing persecution in Plateau state.

On May 30, “Fulani militias” attacked Kpachudu village, shooting and wounding Ishaya Achi, a Christian who is receiving medical treatment at a health facility in Jos, he said. On May 14, herdsmen carried out large-scale destruction of farm crops belonging to Christian farmers at Ngbrrakunvu community, he added.

“This violent act has resulted in the destruction of nearly 100 farmsteads, covering over 40 hectares of cultivated land,” Yonkpa said. “This heinous act is not an isolated incident but rather a recurring pattern of aggression and lawlessness that has plagued Christians and for years, particularly during farming seasons.”

Despite the severity of such attacks, the assailants have consistently evaded justice, emboldening them to continue destructive activities, he said.

On May 14 at about 3 p.m. Fulani herders attacked two Christian women at Rikwe-Rishe village as they worked on their farm; they are receiving medical attention at a health care center in Jos, he said. On May 10, Fulani militias attacked Kigam community at about 4 p.m. and killed two Christians; one identified as Daniel Bawa, 45, was slain as he worked on his farm.

On the same day at about 9 a.m. at predominantly Christian DTV Zanwra, Fulani herders attacked Christians in their homes and wounded two brothers, Mworina Barry and Iliya Zami Barry, he said. They are receiving medical treatment for machete wounds.

Riyom Attacks

Herdsmen also attacked on Wednesday (June 4) in Riyom County, where they had killed at least 18 Christians in May.

Residents of Riyom County’s Jol village sent messages of distress on Wednesday.

“Please pray for my village, Jol in Riyom Local Government Area,” Zere Samuel said in a text message. “An attack by Fulani herdsmen is ongoing there.”

Resident Gankis Haggai said armed herdsmen were mounting yet another attack in Rim in broad daylight.

“This attack highlights the horror, the pressure, the fear Christians are forced live with every single day,” Haggai said.

Judith Bature wrote, “My heart is heavy as I write this. The ongoing insecurity in Plateau state, particularly the attacks on Christians in Bokkos, Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bassa, is alarming. The Fulani terrorists’ relentless assaults have left us questioning the effectiveness of our leadership. The attack on Jol and Rim communities in Riyom Local Government Area is just another painful reminder of the silence from Nigerian leaders.”

Prior to the Jol attack, herdsmen on Sunday (June 1) attacked predominantly Bachi village in the Riyom area.

“It’s a Black Sunday in Bachi community of Riyom LGA,” local Samuel Ayuba told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News in a text message. “Another dark day. Another community in tears. Innocent lives have been cut short, dreams silenced, families torn apart. How long will Christians continue to suffer like this?”

In mid-May in Wereng, 12 Christians were killed in a herdsmen attack, and four others were slain in Chido village. Timothy Dantong, a spokesman for the Plateau state government said the attacks in Wereng began on May 13, when suspected Fulani gunmen killed four Christians, and lasted to the following day, when eight more Christians were killed.

“At Wereng, a Christian community in Riyom, we have four Christians who were killed on Tuesday, 13 May,” Dantong said. “The Fulani are the ones who killed them. They killed eight Christians, while one other Christian was injured. On 14 May, the Fulani herdsmen returned to attack the community again, killing eight Christians, and burned down their houses.”

Attorney and religious rights advocate Solomon Dalyop said the more than 200 armed suspected Fulani who attacked Wereng and Chido villages also destroyed houses.

Another band of herdsmen on May 13 killed two Christian villagers in an ambush, said a resident of the area, Pam Dung.

“Two Christian villagers, Linus Davou and Tunde Daylop, were ambushed and killed by herdsmen at the Dachidom community at about 10 p.m.,” Dung said.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Nigeria remained among the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3,100 (69 percent) were in Nigeria, according to the WWL.

“The measure of anti-Christian violence in the country is already at the maximum possible under World Watch List methodology,” the report stated.

In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.

The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist Al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.

Nigeria ranked seventh on the 2025 WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.