Burial service for Christian youth leader Filibus Usman Kuje on Aug. 10, 2026 in Amaha village, Kokona County, Nasarawa state, Nigeria. (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)
ABUJA, Nigeria (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen have killed 16 Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria since Aug. 2, in addition to slaughters in two other states, sources said.
The armed herdsmen overran five predominantly Christian villages in the Riyom area southwest of Jos over the past two weeks, they said. On Tuesday (Aug. 12), herdsmen attacked Kyeng village at about 8:30 p.m. and Gwa-Wereng Rim at about 9:30 p.m., killing two Christians identified as Bulus Mwagwong and Stephen Dachollom Kaze, area resident Lyop Gabriel said.
“The Fulani herdsmen invaded the two communities, shooting residents,” Gabriel told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “In Dorong and Jol villages, the herdsmen set fire on houses and were shooting Christian residents they sighted. The attacks occurred as these Christians were sleeping in their houses.”
Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, an attorney in Jos, described the attacks as “a disturbing threat to the lives, livelihoods and safety of Christian in rural communities.”
Mwantiri stressed the Nigerian government must step up efforts to prevent further violence against Christians.
In Ryom County’s predominantly Christian Tanjol village on Aug. 4, suspected herdsmen killed three Christians, said area resident Vincent Caleb Alamba. He identified those slain as Dachung Danjuma, 51; Victor Danjuma, 37; and Nyam Danjuma, 35.
On Aug. 2 in Ryom County’s predominantly Christian villages of Torok, Kum and Wereng Camp, herdsmen killed 10 Christians, said community leader Rwang Tengwong, identifying those slain as Jennifer Yohanna, 3 months old; Peace James, 3; Celina James, 38; Yohanna James, 21; Janet Yohanna, 18; Sele James, 18; Melody James, 16; Reto James, 10; Endurance James, 8; and Daniel Danjuma Chong.
Attorney Mwantiri confirmed these attacks and said a former local council legislator of Rim Ward, David Dachollom Danjuma, was also killed by “suspected armed Fulani alongside hired bandits” in Torok village.
Fom Dalyop Chollom, a member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, confirmed the killing of the former local council legislator.
“This senseless act of terrorism is wicked, barbaric, and an attack on peace, democracy, and the sanctity of human life,” Chollom in a press statement issued in Jos. “Targeting a community leader is an attempt to instill fear and destabilize our constituency.”
He called on security agencies to immediately apprehend the perpetrators and ensure justice.
“I also urge our people to remain vigilant, peaceful, and united. We will not allow enemies of peace to defeat us,” he said. “I pray that God grants the soul of the departed eternal rest and gives the family fortitude to bear this painful loss.”
Youth Leader Killed in Nasarawa State
On Monday (Aug. 10), leaders of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) conducted a funeral in Amaha village, Kokona County in Nasarawa state, for one its youth leaders, slain in an ambush by armed Fulani herdsmen on Aug. 6.
Filibus Usman Kuje, 48, was killed as he was returning to his village after attending a church program, church leaders said. He was the church’s youth leader of Ungwan Takwa District Church Council.
“I send you this message with a heavy heart. We’re Wishing Philibus Usman Kuje a peaceful night,” Naphtali Anzason, a church member, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News in a text message. “May we be reunited in a brighter future, where love and hope forever triumph, and may that day come soon. Good night.”
ECWA Angwan Takwa District Church Council leaders said in a statement, “We earnestly request that we uphold his immediate family, the Ungwan Takwa DCC, and the entire church in fervent prayers during this difficult time. May the Lord comfort and strengthen them.”
Funeral for 15 Slain in Benue State
In Benue state, thousands of Christians from various denominations attended a funeral in Efeyi on Saturday (Aug. 8) for 15 Christians killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen on July 28, area residents said.
“It was a day of tears and grief in Efeyi community, Ugboju District of Otukpo Local Government Area, as residents gathered on to bury 15 Christians killed in a suspected armed herdsmen attack,” resident Odeh Great told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “For the bereaved Christians, the funeral was a painful moment of coming to terms with the sudden loss of their loved ones. Many family members were seen struggling to hold back their tears as the bodies of the victims were brought out for burial.”
Among those slain, he said, were Emmanuel Agwu, Ikpe John, Ameh Fredrick, Owogho Okpe Philip, Onche Abechi, Sunday Alechenu, Isaac’s Elembi, Abogonye Ameh, Emmanuel Ejiga, Success Onche, Apem Samuel, Edache Abechi, Chinedu Ameh and Michael Abalike.
“At the funeral, grief hung heavily over the community as mourners prayed for the souls of the deceased and comfort for their families,” he said.
The attack on Christians in Efeyi, a predominantly Christian community, occurred at about 5 a.m., when the assailants killed the Christians asleep in their homes.
Area resident Orga Stephen said the pain of Christians in Efeyi is the pain of all Christians in the country.
“This is not just any other funeral, but it is the burial of dreams, hopes, families and futures,” Stephen said. “Behind every coffin is a mother who is grieving, a father who has lost a child, children who will grow up without a parent, and families whose lives will never be the same again. The tears shed at this funeral remind us of the urgent need for lasting peace, justice and protection for Christian communities in Nigeria.”
Aleh Pero, another resident, of the area also describes the funeral service as a moment of grief for the Christian community of Efeyi.
“This is a darkest moment for the Efeyi Christian community as they are in deep mourning,” Pero said. “These Christians were victims of a deadly attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen. This cannot continue. Christians in Nigeria deserve to worship in peace, to sleep, and to live without fear.
“We call on government, security agencies, and all leaders to rise and protect Christian communities in Nigeria.”
More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, according to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during that period, 3,490 – 72 percent – were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.
The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist Al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.
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