Nigeria greeted the New Year with yet more violence by militants, with 50 people killed in a number of attacks that took place between 28 December and 3 January in the Middle Belt region.
Nigeria is already the deadliest country for Christians, with more killed for their faith in the country than all other countries combined. Locals fear that 2026 could see the number of killings - already in the thousands - double.
Last year the Nigerian president declared a national emergency and ordered the doubling of the police force. The Nigerian government also agreed to US airstrikes on militant bases in the north of the country.
Unusually, the latest violence does not appear to have specifically targeted Christians or Christian communities. Most of the dead were killed in a massacre that took place in the village of Kasuwan Daji.
Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora told Aid to the Church in Need that the attackers set fire to the market and houses before tying up the arms of 42 men. The men, a mixture of Christians and Muslims, were all killed while an unknown number of women and children were abducted.
The bishop said the attackers were a group of bandits that has roamed freely without challenge from the security services. He added that the group had attacked a Catholic church in Sokonbora, “destroyed a crucifix, pictures of the Stations of the Cross and musical instruments”, and stolen mobile phones, money and two motorcycles.
Many locals have fled their homes due to fears the bandits could strike.
Bishop Yohanna said of the deadly attacks, “This senseless, barbaric and inhuman act of violence is a grave violation of the sanctity of human life and human dignity.”
He further called on the various ethnic groups in the region “not to see one another as enemies, but to remain united in rejecting violence in all its forms and in standing together to confront our common enemy, the bandits”, and for the government to do whatever necessary to eliminate the bandits.
