On Saturday and Sunday (May 3-4), the herdsmen of Hulani killed six Christians and injured dozens of others in attacks in two Christian villages in Plateau Province, Nigeria.
In Birkinradi County, the herdsmen attacked mostly Christian NTV and the villages of Kakrku, said Ilya Adazaram, youth leader in the affected community.
“We are saddened by another tragic night of armed attacks in the Birkin Ladi district of Kakrku village in Gashish district, another tragic night of armed attacks in which the gunman and three Christians and four other four were hacked with three Christians injured on May 4th.” “This was shot in the Barkin Ladi local government area of NTV village, except for three other Christians who were ambushed and shot dead on May 3rd.”
Adazaram has identified the three murdered Christians as 6-month-old girls, Nyam Dabou, 44, Kande Thomas, 40, and Thomas. The seven Christians were injured: Abigail Nyam. Helen Ishaya, 45; Mafeng Markus, 29; said Sarah Marx, 40.
The injured Christian victim was undergoing treatment at a general hospital in Birkinraditown.
Adazaram said attacks have increased in the region as herdsmen attempted to seize land and Islamic extremists attempted to establish Nigeria.
“Our firm belief is that the renewal of these Fulani militants’ attacks not only in our community, but also in Plateau and other communities, among other reasons, will drive away Christian victims of all forms of terrorism in Muslim fierce Mairitatists,” Adazaram said. “It should be recorded that ongoing predatory, armed bandits’ actions and terrorist attacks on Christians are in the way.”
He said officials usually ignore early warning signs and intelligence from Christians about the influx of Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists before such attacks occur.
“This has led attackers to exploit the inadequate security talent to infiltrate vulnerable Christian areas and villages,” Adazaram said. “The murders by these Fulani herdsmen and bandits have led to the deaths of hundreds of Christians, sparring no one, including women and children.”
The herdsmen and “armed Muslim bandits” have been carrying out such attacks on the local Christian community since 2018, he said.
“For example, on Christmas Eve 2023, over 230 Christians were killed by these Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Muslim bandits,” Adazaram said. “In the same way, dozens of Christians were killed in these areas on August 23, 2018.”
He called for the military’s safe haven, the Nigerian police, the State Department and other security agencies to urgently neutralize the bloodshed given to Christian residents who are not given to areas caused by the crisis “to avoid another round of imminent genocide in Plateau State.”
Stephen Pwajok Gyang, chairman of the Barkin Ladi Local Government Council, condemned the attack in a statement from spokesman Mercy Yop Chuwang.
“During a visit to injured people at Birkinradi General Hospital, President Stephen Pujokghan of the Birkinradi Regional Governor’s Council expressed his sadness over the revival of violence, especially when local governments work to promote peace and stability,” Chuwan said.
Pastor Danjuma Baian, Christian leader in Plateau, said Fulani herdsmen and other Muslim terrorists intend to destroy the Christian community and establish an Islamic caliphate in central Nigeria.
“There are spectacular designs to destabilize the plateau state, and those carrying out these attacks have different goals, so that more than 200 Christian communities are wiped out,” Pastor Baian said. “Already, more than 60 of these Christian communities are occupied by Fulani herdsmen.”
These communities will not be reclaimed by Indigenous Christian owners, he said.
Maj.-Gen. Forusho Oinlola, commander of the Nigerian Army and commander of Operation Safe Haven, expressed concern over the influx of Fulani herdsmen and their cattle into the Balkin Radi local government area.
Oyinlola told the Barkin Ladi community leader that security agencies are concerned about the influx of cattle that Fulanis is bringing to the agricultural community.
“While livestock movements in Birkinradi and indeed in plateau conditions are not uncommon, the scale and timing of these influxes raise legitimate security concerns,” Oinlora said. “Unfortunately, this development has already resulted in adverse consequences such as farm destruction, isolated attacks, and livestock attacks. We cannot emphasize the impact of these adverse consequences on food security, economic stability, and social harmony.”
Security agencies cannot afford to ignore these early warning signs, Oinlora said, “We must act together to ensure Birkinradi is not slipped into an avoidable conflict.”
With millions of figures in Nigeria and Sahel, Fulani, primarily Muslim, constitute hundreds of clans of many different lines that do not hold the views of extremists, while some Fulani adhere to radical Islamist ideology, all party parliamentary groups (Appgs) in the UK for international freedom or beliefs.
“They are clearly intent to adopt a comparable strategy for Boko Haram and Iswap and target strong symbols of Christian and Christian identity,” the AppG report said.
Nigerian Christian leaders say they believe herdsmen’s attacks on the Christian community in the mid-zone of Nigeria are inspired by the desire to forcefully take over Islam as it forced Christian lands and made desertification difficult to maintain the flock.
According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, Nigeria has remained one of the most dangerous places for Christians. According to WWL, of the 4,476 Christians killed for faith around the world during the reporting period, 3,100 (69%) were in Nigeria.
“The scale of anti-Christian violence in this country is already at the highest possible level under the global watch list methodology,” the report states.
In the north-central zone of the country, where Christians are more common than they are in the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militias attack farm communities, killing hundreds of Christians and, above all, hundreds of Christians. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State (ISWAP) of West African states are also active in northern states in the country where federal control is scarce and Christians and their communities continue to be targeted for attacks, sexual violence and the killing of disability. Ransom aid has been increasing significantly in recent years.
The violence spreads across southern states, with new jihadist terrorist group Lakrawa appearing in the northwest, armed with sophisticated weapons and an extremist agenda, WWL noted. Lakrawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda rebellion Jamaa Nusrat ul Islam Wa al-Muslimin, or Zinim, which is derived from Mali.
Nigeria ranked 7th in the 2025 WWL list of 50 worst countries for Christians.
