It’s going to be a wretched and fearful Easter for Christians in Nigeria.
The killing and persecution of Christians by Islamist militants intent on making a muslim caliphate on this West African nation is constant apparently unchecked regardless of the inhabitants being 46% Christian.
“Nigeria’s Christians are being wiped out; we need to call it what it is — genocide,” Jeff King, president of Worldwide Christian Concern (ICC), a persecution watchdog, instructed Fox Information Digital.
“Let’s start with the horrible attacks on April 2-3, 2025, in (Nigeria’s) Plateau State’s Bokkos County. Over 60 Christians (were) slaughtered, and 383 homes torched” King stated. “Families were burned alive, and kids were left homeless. It’s gut-wrenching. The worst thing is that there’s nothing truly “particular” about this attack. This has gone on for 20 years and has only expanded.”
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No less than 51 Christians have been killed in one other assault in Nigeria’s Plateau State. (Reuters)
King believes Nigeria is a killing area for Christians, and that this isn’t random violence. He continued with figures, confirmed by native leaders on the bottom in Nigeria.
“It’s a calculated push from the Fulanis to erase Christians from their homeland, Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Since 2001, up to 100,000 Christians have been butchered, and 3.5 million farmers have been kicked off their land by Fulani Islamist terrorists. They roll in with AK-47s, machetes and gasoline, and no one’s stopping them. For 20 years, the government has done nothing.
“This can be a large land seize disguised as a dispute or tribal spat. What we’re witnessing is an enormous and long-running stealth jihad.”
One woman widowed in an attack is reported to have told the ICC, “They need our land, our lives, our Jesus.”
Just last weekend, the ICC and local sources claim, another 54 Christians were slaughtered after celebrating at a Palm Sunday service in the village of Zikke, near Jos. The attack reportedly went on for a solid hour with no attempt by authorities to stop it.
Members of St. Leo Catholic Church hold a procession to mark Palm Sunday in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, April 13, 2025. (Adekunle Ajayi/Getty Images)
Members of the Christian group Open Doors UK in Nigeria showed Fox News Digital a list of other attacks in Nigeria in the past month.
- March 24 — Dundu village, Bassa LGA. Militants ambushed three Christian farmers while they were cultivating their land.
- March 27 — Ruwi community, Bokkos LGA. Fulani militants killed 11 Christians attending a funeral.
- April 2. — Bokkos LGA, Militants attacked Tamiso village, where women were having a Christian fellowship meeting at a COCIN (Church of Christ in Nations) church, killing at least five. The village of Dafo was also attacked, killing two.
- April 6 — Militants killed four people in Pyakmula village in Bokkos LGA.
- April 7 — Harra village in the Bassa LGA killing three people.
- April 8 — Three separate attacks were launched, killing at least two in Bassa LGA.
- April 11 — Militants attacked Zogu village in Bassa LGA, killing three people, a father and his two sons. The father was beheaded by the militants, according to OD field contacts.
Nigeria ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watchlist, an annual index of countries where Christians face the most persecution.
“Christians in northern and central Nigeria face excessive violence from Boko Haram, ISWAP, (Islamic State West African Province) and armed Fulani militants who’ve killed 1000’s of believers, destroyed a whole lot of church buildings and displaced complete Christian communities,” Ryan Brown, CEO of Open Doors US, told Fox News Digital. “The latest assaults in Plateau State symbolize one more chapter on this ongoing disaster of non secular persecution.
“These attacks have devastated communities that were still recovering from the Christmas Eve massacre that killed approximately 200 Christians in the same region in 2023.”
Nigerian troopers safe the realm outdoors St. Francis Catholic Church within the city of Owo, Nigeria, June 6, 2022, a day after an assault that focused worshippers. (AP Picture/Sunday Alamba)
Households have misplaced male breadwinners, with ladies and kids usually sexually assaulted, Brown added.
“Survivors are now living in at least four displacement camps, facing food insecurity and unable to access education or worship safely,” Brown added.
Bishop Ayuba Matawal has profiled the Islamist killers. Matawal is chairman of the Nigerian Bokkos Internally Displaced Individuals’s Welfare Committee.
“It appears that some of these extremists have been indoctrinated with an ideology of seizing land from Christian communities, continuing the legacy of Uthman dan Fodio’s vision of spreading Islam across Nigeria,” he stated. “Although their numbers may be small, these extremists have inflicted severe damage on Christian communities.”
The ICC’s King instructed Fox Information Digital he’s calling upon the State Division to record Nigeria “as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).”
This can be a U.S. authorities label meaning sanctions, strain and actual penalties.
King added that he believes the U.S. ought to “cut off all (financial and military) aid to Nigeria until we start to see a meaningful reduction in attacks, perpetrators arrested and lands restored.”
Rangers patrol on the Kainji Lake Nationwide Park in Nigeria’s Niger State in February 2023. (Nigerian Conservation Basis by way of AP)
Whereas not mentioning the assaults on Christians, a State Division spokesperson instructed Fox Information Digital, “The United States remains deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in West Africa, including in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. We offer our condolences to the victims’ families of recent violence in Plateau State.
“We additionally proceed to have interaction with the federal government of Nigeria on the highest ranges to handle (the) root causes of violence, and we strongly advocate for the safety of all residents.
“We acknowledge (Nigerian) President Tinubu’s commitment to address the causes of the violence and urge the government to take meaningful and decisive steps to prevent further attacks, ensure accountability for perpetrators and foster long-term peace and stability “
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In Nigeria, Bishop Matawal cautioned that, this Easter weekend, “Christian communities are on high alert, especially during church services and religious gatherings.”
“Nigerian Christians are carrying their cross every day, yet their hope rises like the resurrection,” King stated. “Easter is all about life winning over death, and these Christians are living that out. But let’s raise a cry and say “we hear you, we’re with you, maintain on only a bit longer.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Nigerian government but did not receive a response.
