Fulani herdsmen killed at least nine Christians in Nigeria’s Plateau State last week, after killing others 27 days earlier, according to local reports
The attacks took place in predominantly Christian communities including Hokk, Pangkap, Fokoldep, Kopmur, Margif, Horop, Mbor, Mushere and Kwahas in Bokkos County.
Emmanuel Auta, a local resident, said nine Christians were killed in the Mushere area between Sunday and Monday (June 1 and 2).
“Bokkos has never been so dangerous, with Christians being brutally attacked as we are seeing now,” he said.
Two Christians were killed on Sunday, and seven others on Monday.
Another resident, Lilian Madaki, said the attacks began days earlier.
“For six days, the Fulani have been attacking our Christian villages,” she said in a message.
Among the victims was a 14-year-old Christian teenager who was shot and is currently hospitalized.
Dorcas Ishaya, another resident, reported that on May 27, Fulani herdsmen attacked the Christian villages of Mbor, Margif and Mijing, burning houses and killing many Christians around 11 pm.
On Monday night (June 2), attacks continued in Hokk, Pangkap and Fokoldep, with intense gunfire.
Yakubu Kefas, a resident of the area, sent out a warning on Tuesday (June 3), saying: “Christians are under heavy fire from Fulani terrorists, with large-scale shootings, killings and arson causing terror and destruction.”
On May 27, Pastor Mimang Lekyil, 70, leader of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Kwahas, was abducted and killed.
The pastor’s wife broke her leg during the incident.
According to Masara Kim, a Christian journalist in the region, 11 other Christians were killed on May 25. Eight Christians were killed in Kopmur and seven in Mbor, all Christian villages, according to resident Nanlop Joy.
Police and the army have been deployed to the affected communities.
Plateau police spokesman Emmanuel Adesina said those responsible would be brought to justice and that the police were determined to capture the culprits.
The Fulani, who number in the millions in Nigeria and the Sahel region, are predominantly Muslim and form several clans.
While not all are extremists, some follow a radical Islamic ideology, according to a 2020 report by the British parliamentary group APPG.
The report found that these groups have strategies similar to those of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), with the clear aim of attacking Christians and Christian symbols.
Christian leaders in Nigeria believe that Fulani herdsmen’s attacks in the country’s so-called Middle Belt are motivated by a desire to take Christian lands by force and impose Islam, as desertification makes it difficult to raise livestock.
Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places for Christians, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List 2025. Of the 4,476 deaths of Christians for their faith last year, 3,100 (69%) occurred in Nigeria.
Violence against Christians in the country is considered extreme.
In the central north, where there are more Christians, extremist Fulani militias attack farming communities, killing hundreds, mainly Christians.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP are also active in the north, where government control is weak, targeting Christians with attacks, sexual violence and kidnappings.
Violence has spread to the south of the country, and a new terrorist group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, with advanced weapons and a radical Islamist agenda, linked to the al-Qaeda insurgency in Mali.
Nigeria is ranked seventh on the list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, according to the 2025 report.
Published in 06/05/2025 17h17
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
Reference article:
- https://morningstarnews.org/2025/06/herdsmen-kill-70-year-old-pastor-35-other-christians-in-nigeria/
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