Nigeria greeted the New Year with yet more violence by militants, with 50 people killed in various attacks that took place between 28 December and three January within the Middle Belt region.
Nigeria is already the deadliest country for Christians, with more killed for his or her faith within the country than all other countries combined. Locals fear that 2026 could see the variety of killings – already within the hundreds – double.
Last yr 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 within the north of the country.
Unusually, the newest violence doesn’t appear to have specifically targeted Christians or Christian communities. Most of the dead were killed in a massacre that took place within 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 mix of Christians and Muslims, were all killed while an unknown number of ladies and kids were abducted.
The bishop said the attackers were a bunch of bandits that has roamed freely without challenge from the safety 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 as a result of 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 assorted ethnic groups within the region “to not see each other as enemies, but to stay united in rejecting violence in all its forms and in standing together to confront our common enemy, the bandits”, and for the federal government to do whatever vital to eliminate the bandits.
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