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Nigeria: 14 Christians killed after Christmas carol service

Nigeria: 14 Christians killed after Christmas carol service

LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images
LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images

At least 14 Christians, including a 1-year-old girl and a pregnant woman, have been 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 took place last Sunday, about 22 miles from Jos, Plateau State, against the Winning All Evangelical Church, conformable the American persecution watchdog, International Christian Concern.

The community around the church is home to about 1,000 Christians. Local leader Wuna Gado said he alerted military personnel at a nearby checkpoint to unusual activity but felt his warnings were dismissed.

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The attack resulted in the loss of entire families and a mass funeral, the ICC said.

One-year-old Sheba Ernest and her mother Mary Stephen were among the victims.

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 attack adds to a history of attacks that often coincide with significant Christian holidays, the ICC noted.

Between 2019 and 2023, more than 16,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria, according to data compiled by the Africa Religious Freedom Observatory, which previously shared a report containing the data with The Christian Post. The group documented 55,910 deaths from 9,970 attacks in Nigeria, including civilians and combatants. Of those killed, 30,880 were civilians. Christian casualties totaled 16,769, outnumbering the 6,235 Muslim deaths, with a ratio of 6.5 Christian deaths for every Muslim death.

Radicalized Muslim Fulani herdsmen were responsible for 55% of Christian deaths.

The report stated that misleading euphemisms such as “armed herdsmen” and “cattle herders” are being used to describe ongoing waves of invasion, torture and killing in rural communities. Descriptions of the attacks as “ethnic clashes”, “farmers-herdsmen clashes” or revenge attacks are seriously misleading.

The report also warned that the term “bandits” is often used to describe militias that carry out mass kidnappings and impose “serfdom” on communities, adding that “a policy of hiding the religious identity of the victims” distorts the reality of the situation.

rev. Gideon Para-Mallam, a partner and analyst at the Observatory, said in a statement: “The Fulani Ethnic Militia is targeting Christian populations, while Muslims are also suffering badly because of them.”

Frans Vierhout, senior analyst at the Observatory, added: “Millions of people are being left unprotected. For years, we have heard that pleas for help are being ignored while terrorists attack vulnerable communities. Now the data tells its own story.”

“The Nigerian government should wake up to its responsibility to secure the lives and properties of Nigerians. Impunity has allowed targeted attacks against innocent people to continue unabated,” the report concluded.