Less than three weeks after a massive massacre in the village of Elwata, primarily Christians, in Benue, Nigeria, four Christians were killed in the same county, sources said.
“On June 30, four more Christians were killed by Fulani herdsmen armed in the Tse Asha, Ukange, Adeor and Udei communities,” local resident Samuel Tibuta told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “These attacks also injured two Christians, Nensha Adeor and Kator Gbenge.
Another Christian was lured at Adeor Village on June 26th, and herdsmen continue to keep it, Tivta added.
The attackers also burned down the homes of Christian villagers and destroyed the property, said Zege Orkwande, a local resident.
Plateau status: 64 people killed
In Plateau Province, central Nigeria, six Christians have been killed in Lyom County in the past week, and the latest of the 64 people have been killed in the area, sources said.
Residents of Joll, Lim and Dangwal said five Christians were killed in Joll on Thursday (July 3) and the other in Danwal. They said Fulani herdsmen began the attack in the last week of June.
The attackers attacked JOL from 5:30pm to 11pm, Zere Samuel said.
“Francis Danjuma, a Christian from the Joll community, was killed by a Fulani herdsmen,” Samuel told Christian Daily International Morning Star News, agreeing with reports from other residents.
The killings in the Joll attack were “a victim of a cruel ambush against them by armed herdsmen of the Joll community,” local resident George Lambert said in a text message. A Christian woman was reportedly killed in the attack on Dangwal village on July 2nd.
Zang Davou, a local youth leader, said thousands of people have been evacuated and injured, and the entire community has declined to Kura Rub in the past few months.
“In recent weeks, these herdsmen have killed 58 people and destroyed 82 homes with a brutal attack spatch,” Davou told Christian Daily International. “In just a few weeks, 58 innocent lives have been brutally murdered in cold blood: fathers, mothers, children, young people.”
Another 31 Christians were injured in the attacks being treated in hospitals due to serious injuries, and struggled to survive in a shortage of medical supplies and proper care, he added.
“Beyond the immediate physical destruction, the large hectares of our cultivated farmland represent the nutritional nature of our people and were mowed and destroyed,” Dabou said.
He said the violence has evacuated more than 15,000 people who currently live in unstable circumstances without shelter, food and dignity.
“We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of security agencies and governments at all levels in curbing these attacks, but it is essential to clearly state that such efforts are not fully appreciated,” he said. “Our government needs to understand that the magnitude of the local government’s problems is far greater than what we are currently responding.”
He said there was a permanent wave of violence committed by herdsmen in most communities in the Riyom local government area.
“For over 20 years since 2002, the local government area of Riyom has been exposed to a relentless, systematic campaign of violence committed and orchestrated by armed Fulani militias,” Dabou said.
Young people in Lyonum are resilient, but their resilience has been tested to its limits, he said.
“We are tired of burying our loved ones whose lives have been shortened by the armed Fulani militia,” Dabou said. “We are tired of seeing heritage destroyed and disappearing. We are tired of living in fear. We believe in the promises of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria, and that peace must begin in our homes, our communities and local government areas.”
Community leader Jerry Deiyop said Lyon’s attacks on Christians have been happening since 2001.
“Lyom has been subjected to relentless attacks from Fulani herders and is still happening until now,” said Deiyop. “Innocent life was shortened, farmland was destroyed, caught, and families were evacuated.”
He said the murders were not merely tragedy, but rather an attack on the peace, dignity and existence of the villagers.
“How can we feel safe when our community is immersed in blood? How can development flourish when people live in fear?” he said. “The world should not be silent while we continue to bury ourselves almost every day. We don’t attack Fulani or their domains, but they keep coming for us, killing us, killing us, destroying our farmland, grabs. These killings must stop.
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.
