PLATEAU, Nigeria (BP) – Terrorists killed more than 200 Christians in a series of Christmas attacks on villages in Nigeria’s central belt and northeastern Nigeria, humanitarian and advocacy groups reported.
The death toll continues to rise following attacks by bandits – a term encompassing organized terrorist and other criminal groups – from December 23 to 28 in 80 villages in Plateau State, the Christian humanitarian organization reported Release International on December 30. to be discovered, and the attacks are expected to continue, Release International reported.
“My house was burned and I cried on Christmas Day,” said Naomi, a Mayong resident who lost four family members in the attacks and fled to a displaced persons camp.
Additionally, unidentified terrorists killed eight Christians in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Taraba on December 28, following the massacre of 13 Christians in the area the previous week, Morning Star News reported and Christian Daily International on January 2.
Two more Christians were killed over Christmas in Adamawa state, also in northeastern Nigeria, the Christian Daily and Morning Star reported.
During the Christmas Eve attacks alone, nearly 200 villagers were killed in 21 Christian villages in the Plateau, the ICC reported on December 28, based on figures from state government officials’ reports. Plateau State, Amnesty International Nigeria and the Nigerian Red Cross.
Pastors and their families were among the dead, the Christian Daily and Morning Star reported on December 26, with the elderly, women and children making up a disproportionate number of those killed.
“These terrorists who attacked these Christian communities numbered in the hundreds and they carried out their attacks while the unfortunate Christians were preparing for the Christmas programs organized by their pastors,” Dawzino Mallau, a resident of one village, told Christian attacked in Bokkos County. Daily and Morning Star. “We believe they are carrying out these attacks alongside armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen. »
Churches and homes were destroyed, more than 32,000 residents were displaced and at least 300 injured residents were treated in hospitals, according to reports. Christian Solidarity Worldwide identified the destroyed churches as Dares Baptist Church, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Mbong, Christ in the Nations Church (COCIN) in Maiyanga, COCIN Church in Ndun, the COCIN church in Tahore, the CAC church in Longhair, the COCIN church in Ngha-buk and the COCIN church in Hurum. The attacks on the Middle Belt would be the deadliest since militant Fulani herdsmen and others killed 225 people in a series of attacks in 2018.
Just days before the attacks, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sentenced “a recent rise” in attacks by Islamist insurgents against religious communities across Nigeria.
“We cannot stand idly by and see more Nigerians being targeted because of their faith, especially as we approach the festive season where we have seen this escalation in the past,” the vice president said. USCIRF, Frederick A. Davie, in the press of December 14. release.
USCIRF continues to urge the U.S. Department of State to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern “for engaging in or tolerating systematic, continuing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.”
USCIRF noted the killing of at least 10 Christians in Taraba State by militants, the kidnapping of 150 people in Zamfara State, and the killing of 15 rice farmers in Borno State by Boko Haram during the month preceding the December 14 declaration.
“The United States must hold the Nigerian government accountable for its failure to protect religious communities in Nigeria,” USCIRF Commissioner Frank R. Wolf said, calling for an investigation into “aid effectiveness in Nigeria to achieve the goals of religious freedom in the country. .”
Nigerian Christians have accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect vulnerable communities and allowing attacks to continue unchallenged for hours.
The Middle-Belt Forum (MBF) – a self-described socio-cultural, non-religious and non-partisan group – has accused the Nigerian government of complicity in the attacks, Arise News reported December 27.
The Nigerian government has long known that the Mahanga forest in Plateau State is the safe haven that insurgents and terrorists use as a launching base for all attacks, MBF said, but the government has “deliberately fortified this evil theater of all destruction, thus offering a safe refuge to the latter. terrorists to smuggle weapons, train their mercenaries and wreak unimaginable terror on innocent citizens, without any provocation.
Militant Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’adati wal-Jihad (JAS) and the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) are the major terrorists active in Nigeria.
Nigeria is the deadliest country for Christians, with 5,014 Christians killed in 2022 because of their faith, surpassing the 4,650 killed the previous year, Open Doors US reported in its 2023 World Watch List.
