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Nigeria: 11 Christians Murdered in Benue State Christmas Day Attacks, “A Trail of Grief and Trauma”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In keeping with similar attacks during major Christian holidays, Islamic militants in Nigeria slaughtered 11 people on Christmas Day during murderous raids in Christian communities in Kwande County, Benue state, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

While the 15-year-long wholesale slaughter of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic militants has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the Nigerian government and the international community, nothing of any substance has been done to stop the killings, kidnappings, rapes, and displacement of believers in the northern section of this country especially.

The largest Christmas Day attack was carried out during actual services in the predominantly Catholic Tiv community near the borders of Taraba state and Cameroon, ICC reports.

“Despite recent peace-building initiatives by local leaders, including efforts by Bishop Isaac Bundepuun Dugu through a state-sponsored amnesty program, the community’s challenges persist,” ICC said in its report. “The once-thriving community of Turan now faces an uncertain future, with four out of five community areas largely deserted.”

In a 2024 website report on the catastrophic situation facing believers in Nigeria, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reports: “Christians in Nigeria, particularly in the Muslim-majority north, continue to live under immense pressure and to be terrorized with devastating impunity by Islamic militants and armed ‘bandits.’”

“More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria each year than everywhere else in the world combined,” Open Doors adds. “The attacks are often brutal in nature and can involve destruction of properties, abductions for ransom, sexual violence, and death. Believers are stripped of their livelihoods and driven from their homes, leaving a trail of grief and trauma.”