More than a dozen Christians were reportedly killed by armed men on Dec. 22 after a Christmas carol service in Nigeria.
The horrific event — aimed at the predominately Christian Irigwe tribe — took place at the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), 22 miles from the Nigerian city of Jos.
Tragically, a 1-year-old baby named Sheba Ernest and a pregnant woman were among the 14 slain, according to persecution watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC).
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Entire families were killed, leading to a mass burial to honor those whose lives were so callously snuffed out.
Much of the chaos in the region has come at the hands of Islamic Fulani extremists, according to ICC. Fulani herdsmen are members of a predominately Muslim group known to target Christians.
In a separate incident, initial reports indicated 11 people were slaughtered by armed Islamic militants who targeted Christian communities throughout Kwande County, Benue state during Christmas Day attacks.
“The largest attack occurred during church services in Turan, a predominantly Catholic Tiv community near the borders of Taraba state and Cameroon,” ICC reported. “Unidentified Islamic militants launched additional surprise attacks, leaving many people injured and forcing many others to evacuate their homes. Numerous homes were damaged as well.”
But an updated report by Morning Star News said the number of individuals killed Christmas Day swelled to 33, with the outlet blaming Fulani herdsmen for the assaults.
“The brutal assault by Fulani herdsmen terrorists has left the community in shock and mourning,” Udeti Gira, a resident, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The people of Kwande are still waiting for a decisive response from the government to address the escalating insecurity in the area.”
As CBN News previously reported, the situation in Nigeria remains dangerous for Christians. Overall, more than 16,000 Christians were reportedly killed in Nigeria between 2019 and 2023 based on data by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.
Muslims reportedly burned down a Christian church Aug. 10 in yet another assault on believers that underscores the serious nature of percolating persecution inside the African nation.
Associate Pastor Samson Ogbebor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News he received news the church was in flames around 3 a.m.
It’s tragically the second time the house of worship, located in the town of Kontagora in Nigeria’s Niger state, has been destroyed. It was an act the Rev. Bulus Dauda Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter, called “barbaric and unwarranted” and “painful.”
In April, the Rev. Manasseh Ibrahim was reportedly killed as he traveled to provide ministry to church members, according to sources who spoke to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
And in November 2023, Oluwakemi Moses, the wife of a Nigerian pastor, was murdered by terrorists as she traveled home with her 2-month-old baby.
Tragically, it doesn’t end there. The Rev. Charles Onomhoale Igechi, a Catholic priest who was vice principal of St. Michael College, Ikhueniro, was slaughtered last year, while driving through Benin, Edo, in Nigeria. These events aren’t new, though international attention is continuing to grow.
Violence in Nigeria broke through the global news cycle in May 2022, when Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 25-year-old Christian college student, was stoned to death by a Muslim mob.
The killing of Yakubu, a Shehu Shagari College of Education student in Sokoto, Nigeria, was purportedly filmed and shared on social media, horrifying the international community.
Persecution trackers have extensively documented the severity of the issue. Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024 placed Nigeria in the sixth spot in its rankings of nations where anti-Christian persecution and discrimination are the worst.
A line from a press release announcing the results read, “More than 82% of Christians killed across the globe for faith reasons were in Nigeria.”
And Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern (ICC) and one of the world’s most knowledgeable experts on religious freedom and persecution, told CBN News last year his organization’s “2023 Persecutors of the Year” report also reveals the full scope of the problem.
“Most Americans have no idea what’s going on in Nigeria, but imagine this: for the last 20 years, probably up to about 100,000 Christians have been murdered,” King said. “Three-and-a-half million Christians, their lands have been taken from them, and the government’s pretty much done nothing.”
In addition to killings and violence, social pressures are also intense. ADF International sounded the alarm earlier this year over two Nigerian universities — one federal and one state — that have reportedly barred Christian students from “being able to use any facilities for worship [or] fellowship.”
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