Christian killed after New Year's prayer meeting

(Photo: Unsplash/Aaron Burden)

A Christian man was killed and "burned beyond recognition" after being attacked on his way home from a New Year's Eve prayer meeting in Nigeria.

International Christian Concern (ICC) said Adamu Sunday, 38, was attacked along with four others who were injured but survived. 

They were returning home from a prayer meeting held annually for the Christian communities of the Irigwe chiefdom, Middle Belt, central Nigeria. 

The attack has been attributed to Fulani militants. 

One survivor told ICC that a Fulani militant warned them during the attack that this was only "the first attack for the new year" and that more would be coming in 2022. 

An unnamed survivor told ICC, "It was God that saved my life. I don't know how I escaped. It was God that saved me."

Another source told ICC that authorities have ignored the threats against Christians. 

"This was the second time [the] Fulani promised an attack on one of the communities, and the government of Nigeria doesn't want to protect them because they are Christians," he said.

ICC is asking Christians to pray for an end to the violence against believers in Nigeria. 

ICC President Jeff King was critical of the Nigerian government. 

"Attacks of this nature have been ongoing for the past 20 years and the silence is deafening," he said. 

"While the government claims to be doing its best to curb the violence, the reality paints a different picture of a Muslim-led government allowing anti-Christian violence to continue without consequence."