(CP) At least 14 Christians, including a 1-year-old girl and a pregnant woman, were killed in Plateau state, Nigeria, following a Christmas carol service. The attack is the latest in a series of attacks against the Irigwe tribe in the north-central region of the country.
The attack occurred last Sunday, about 22 miles from Jos, Plateau state, against the Evangelical Church Winning All, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern.
The community surrounding the church is home to about 1,000 Christians. Local leader Wuna Gado was quoted as saying that he had alerted military personnel at a nearby checkpoint about unusual activities but felt his warnings were dismissed.
The attack resulted in the loss of entire families and a mass burial was held, ICC said.
Among the victims were 1-year-old Sheba Ernest and her mother, Mary Stephen.
The Irigwe people, a predominantly Christian group, have faced ongoing adversity, including violence and displacement by Fulani militias, with more than 2,000 Christians killed since 2016.
The latest assault adds to a history of attacks that often coincide with significant Christian celebrations, ICC noted.
Between 2019 and 2023, more than 16,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria, according to data collected by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, which previously shared a report carrying the data with The Christian Post. The group documented 55,910 fatalities from 9,970 attacks across Nigeria, including both civilians and combatants. Of those killed, 30,880 were civilians. Christian victims totaled 16,769, outnumbering the 6,235 Muslim fatalities, with a ratio of 6.5 Christian deaths to every Muslim death.
Radicalized Muslim Fulani herdsmen were responsible for 55% of the Christian deaths.
The report stated that misleading euphemisms, such as "armed herdsmen" and "cattle grazers," are used to describe continuous waves of invasion, torture and killing in rural communities. Descriptions of attacks as "ethnic clashes," "farmer-herder clashes," or retaliatory attacks are seriously misleading.
The report also warned that the term "bandits" is often used to describe militias that carry out mass kidnappings and enforce "serfdom" on communities, adding that "a policy of concealing the religious identity of victims" is distorting the reality of the situation.
The Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam, an observatory partner and analyst, said in a statement: "Fulani Ethnic Militia are targeting Christian populations, while Muslims also suffer severely at their hands."
Frans Vierhout, senior analyst at the observatory, added: "Millions of people are left undefended. For years, we've heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities. Now the data tells its own story."
"The Nigerian government should wake up to its responsibility of securing the lives and properties of Nigerians. Impunity has allowed targeted attacks against innocent people to continue unabatedly," the report concluded.
