Christian Villages Burned To the Ground In Brutal Attack
Between April 2 and 3, over 60 Christians were killed in coordinated attacks across several villages in Bokkos County, Plateau State, Nigeria. The violence, attributed to armed Fulani militants, targeted predominantly Christian farming communities, destroying hundreds of homes and displacing more than a thousand residents. Villages such as Hurti, Ruwi, and Daffo were among those hit hardest, with reports of looted food stores and razed infrastructure. Local officials described the attackers as arriving on motorcycles in large numbers, executing well-organized assaults that devastated entire settlements.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang condemned the attacks as genocide and expressed concern over the systematic nature of the violence, which he believes is part of a broader effort to displace Christian farmers and seize their land. He noted that the pattern of attacks—occurring at the beginning of the planting season and recurring during harvest—suggests a strategic plan to impoverish and uproot the affected communities. Mutfwang also dismissed the notion of longstanding community conflict, pointing instead to faceless attackers backed by unknown forces.
Military personnel responded to the assaults and engaged the militants, recovering weapons and equipment, but residents expressed frustration at the slow or absent response during the actual attacks. Amnesty International also criticized the Nigerian government for its failure to prevent the violence and called for justice, citing widespread destruction and the lack of security presence during these incidents. Their data shows that over 1,300 people were killed in Plateau State in just a three-month period, highlighting the gravity of the situation.
Christian leaders in the region have appealed for urgent intervention, noting the profound social and emotional toll on the communities. Entire families were killed in overnight raids, and survivors now live in displaced persons camps, unable to return home. With essential services destroyed, the region faces a humanitarian crisis. The violence has prompted calls for better-equipped and intelligence-driven military responses to prevent further loss of life and property.
Reports from religious freedom organizations and human rights groups suggest that extremist factions among the Fulani, though not representative of the entire ethnic group, are increasingly adopting tactics used by terrorist organizations like Boko Haram. Nigeria continues to be one of the deadliest countries in the world for Christians, with the majority of global Christian persecution-related deaths occurring there. The emergence of new militant groups, such as Lakurawa in the northwest, adds to the growing instability and threat of religiously motivated violence in the country.