Naomi Ezekiel Gana of Furti village, Bokkos, was widowed in the April 2, 2025 attack. csi
As the Easter holiday approaches, Christians in the Middle Belt of Nigeria are facing a renewed wave of violence. At around midnight on Palm Sunday suspected Fulani militants attacked villages in Zike community, Bassa local government area (LGA), killing 56 Christian residents — including 15 children — and injuring nine others. Over 2,000 people were displaced.
According to a Channels Television report, security personnel and local self defense forces engaged the attackers and managed to repel them but dozens of people had already been killed and wounded. A mass burial of victims took place in the community on Monday.
Two days later, on April 15, CSI project manager for Nigeria Franco Majok met some of those injured in this and previous attacks who are being cared for at Jos University Teaching Hospital. Three people had died there from their injuries that day. “The majority of the victims were attacked from behind with machetes, suffering deep cuts to the back of the neck,” reported Majok.
Family killed, seven-year-old left for dead
Nenche Steven, a seven-year-old boy from Mayango village in Bassa, lost virtually his entire family in the April 13 attack. He, his father, mother, and two siblings were asleep in bed when Fulani herdsmen entered their home. Nenche’s father was shot dead, his mother had both of her arms cut off. Nenche’s two siblings were killed, their necks severed from behind with machetes. The attackers also slashed Nenche’s neck, and left him for dead.
“His relatives discovered him the following morning, still alive but gravely injured,” Majok said. “I visited him yesterday [on April 15]. He is still in severe pain, crying out in agony and vomiting [from the pain].”
Sari John, a 15-year-old boy from Mayango, was sleeping beside his mother, Tina John, when Fulani militiamen broke into their home.
“Sari was shot in the chest. The bullet remains lodged in his body, and he is in constant pain. He is currently unable to speak due to the severity of his condition,” said Majok.
Doctors are preparing him for a major operation to remove the bullet from his chest.
Wave of attacks
The Zike massacre is the latest in a series of militant attacks across the state that began on March 24. Until Palm Sunday, the deadliest occurred on April 2.
On that day, more than 56 Christians, including children, were massacred in attacks on 15 villages in the community of Hurti, Bokkos LGA, CSI’s project manager said. He added that 28 others were injured and over 5,000 villagers displaced.
Naomi Ezekiel Gama is one of the survivors. She was sitting under a tree with her husband when she saw Fulani militiamen approaching on motorbikes — three men on each bike, all armed with AK-47 rifles. She managed to hide inside the house, but her husband, an Anglican pastor, was shot dead.
Naomi has now been left to care for their five children — two boys and three girls — on her own.
Governor refers to “genocide”
Responding to Sunday night’s attack in Zike, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu condemned the violence in Plateau and ordered an investigation.
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang spoke of a “genocide” against his people. “I would say it unapologetically, what happened in the last two weeks in Bokkos is genocide – I say it unreservedly,” Mutfwang told Arise News.
Meanwhile, a Plateau State youth organization, the Berom Youth Moulders Association (BYM), also condemned “the continuous massacre of Plateau residents and communities” in a statement received by Christian Solidarity International (CSI). The BYM urged the federal government to declare the Fulani militants a terrorist organization.
“These are terrorists who are coming to attack innocent individuals who have not done anything to justify this genocide and massacre,” BYM President Solomon Mwantiri commented.
Middle Belt under attack since 2018
The attacks over the past two months in Plateau State represent the deadliest outbreak of violence since Christmas 2023 when more than 200 Christians were killed.
Since 2018, militias from the Muslim Fulani ethnic group have been systematically attacking Christian villages in Nigeria’s fertile Middle Belt region, occupying their land and displacing millions. CSI issued a genocide warning for Christians in Nigeria in 2020.
CSI has been providing aid to victims of Islamist terrorist attacks in Nigeria since 2013, and will continue to do so. Our project manager reports, “Urgent needs are food, medical treatments, fertilizers for farming as the rainy season is about to start, roofing materials for destroyed houses.”
Chronology of attacks on Christians in Nigeria’s Plateau State since March 24, 2025:
March 24, 2025: Fulani militiamen abduct a 19-year-old woman and gang-rape her for four days in the interior bush of Tahoss, Riyom Local Government Area (LGA).
March 27, 2025: Suspected Fulani militiamen attack and kill 12 mourners in Ruwi village of Bokkos LGA.
April 2, 2025: 15 villages in the Hurti community, Bokkos LGA, are simultaneously attacked by suspected Fulani militias, resulting in the death of 56 people including women and children; 28 are injured and over 5,000 people displaced.
April 6, 2025: Emmanuel Daou of Dabwam in Riyom LGA is injured in an ambush laid by Fulani militiamen. On the same day, Bitrus Gyang Mwanja of Fwil Community, Vwang District of Jos South LGA is attacked and killed by Fulani militiamen.
April 10, 2025: Gyang Danbwarang and Joshua Mwagwong of Tanjol, Riyom LGA, are injured in an ambush laid by Fulani militiamen.
April 12, 2025: Daniel Mwanti of Wereng Community, Riyom LGA, is attacked and shot dead by Fulani militiamen. Fulani militiamen also destroy crops on farmlands belonging to Ishaya Danbwarang.
April 13, 2025: Lliya Gyang of Byei has his crops destroyed by Fulani militiamen.
April 13, 2025: Armed Fulani militants invade Zike village in Kimakpa Community, Kwall District of Bassa LGA, killing 56 people, 15 of whom are children; nine are injured and over 2,000 people displaced; 103 houses are completely razed.
