20 Dead in Latest Attack on Nigerian Christian Community

Islamist bands attacked two communities, Tyungu Jam and Mbaav, in the Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, killing about 20 people and leaving many others missing.

The attackers stormed the villages early in the morning and continued their assault throughout the day, forcing residents to flee. Local sources said the death toll could rise as villagers search nearby bushes and destroyed homes for those still unaccounted for. Residents described the killings as brutal and said women and children were among the victims.

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia condemned the attack as “barbaric, senseless, and unacceptable,” expressing condolences to the victims’ families and promising that those responsible would be brought to justice. He ordered security agencies to intensify efforts to capture the perpetrators, noting that more than 400 security personnel had recently been deployed to the area but that additional measures were needed.

Violence against Christian communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern states has intensified sharply in early 2026, with human rights organizations documenting hundreds of deaths, mass abductions, and the systematic destruction of churches and farmland.

On January 18, heavily armed militants identified by local witnesses as Fulani Islamists raided the village of Kurmin Wali in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State at approximately 9:00 a.m., arriving on foot and motorcycles. Splitting into groups, they simultaneously stormed three churches, Evangelical Church Winning All, Haske Cherubim and Seraphim Church 1, and Albarka Cherubim and Seraphim Church 2, rounding up worshippers at gunpoint and forcing them into nearby bushland. Initial reports indicated 177 people were abducted, including men, women, and children.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide said its Nigerian staff was blocked by the military from entering Kurmin Wali to verify the attack, and Kaduna State officials initially denied any attack had occurred, acknowledging an “abduction” only two days later. All 166 remaining captives were released by February 5, though details about how their freedom was secured remain unclear.

On February 3, militants from the Lakurawa group, affiliated with Islamic State Sahel Province, launched coordinated assaults on the villages of Woro and Nuku in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, continuing until the following afternoon. At least 160 people were killed, an unknown number of women and children were abducted, and many victims were found with their hands bound and their throats cut.

According to the Woro district head, a distress call was made shortly after the attack began, but help did not arrive for nearly ten hours. Separate attacks in Katsina and Benue states on the same day brought the combined death toll to more than 200.

In southern Kaduna State, a majority-Christian area, at least 51 people were kidnapped and three killed over a three-day period ending February 8. On February 7, armed gunmen invaded the Catholic community of Karku in Kajuru Local Government Area around 3 a.m., abducting 11 people, including Father Nathaniel Asuwaye, parish priest of Holy Trinity Church, and killing three others. Pope Leo XIV condemned these attacks during his Angelus address on February 8.

In Taraba State, at least 70 members of the predominantly Christian Tiv ethnic group are feared dead following coordinated attacks on multiple communities in Chanchanji Council Ward of Takum Local Government Area. Survivors reported that homes were set ablaze, food stores destroyed, and personal belongings looted. Community leaders said at least 35 churches were vandalized or burned, and religious items were destroyed.

Among those killed was Pastor Doose Mbathembe. On February 10, attackers struck again in the same ward, killing more than ten Christians in Mchia village at approximately 5:30 a.m.

The Catholic Diocese of Wukari, which encompasses much of the affected area in Taraba State, has documented more than 100 dead, thousands injured, and more than 90,000 Catholics displaced since September 2025, with more than 200 communities and churches destroyed. Diocesan officials report that entire farmlands have been seized by militants, who attack displaced farmers attempting to return to harvest crops, and that roads have been blocked, with travelers ambushed.

There are also reports of women being raped while attempting to retrieve food. On February 15, Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein of the Diocese of Wukari described the violence as “deliberate, organized killing of Christians across the board,” stating that if genocide is defined as the intentional and systematic extermination of a particular group, the situation in Nigeria meets that definition.

Nine Fulani herdsmen linked to the Miyetti Allah group went on trial in February on 57 terrorism charges for orchestrating a June 2025 massacre in Benue State that killed more than 270 Christians. U.S. lawmakers introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act on February 10, calling for assessments of blasphemy laws, sanctions, and conditions on aid.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has designated Nigeria a country of particular concern, and a congressional report described it as the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.

According to Open Doors’ World Watch List 2026, 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed for their faith worldwide in the past year were in Nigeria, roughly 72 percent of all such murders globally.