An estimated 200 Christians were killed in Nigeria on Friday according to a Catholic charity.
The massacre in Nigeria’s Benue State targeted internally displaced families living in shelters, Aid to the Church in Need reported.
The attack in Yelewata took place with attackers shouting “Allahu Akbar” (a Muslim phrase meaning “god is great”), before indiscriminate killing began.
Up to 200 Christians butchered in one night.
🔥 Burned alive. 🔪 Hacked fleeing.
👶 Babies. 👩 Mothers. ✝️ Priests.
Slaughtered for their faith.
No noise. No outrage. Just silence.
Here’s what really happened in Nigeria 🧵👇
1/12 pic.twitter.com/LiP2qbF5Ur
— George Christensen (@NationFirstAust) June 17, 2025
About 500 people were sleeping in a shelter where the attack took place.
Initial reports said 100 people were killed in the three-hour massacre, but that was later increased to a death toll of 200.
“The death toll makes it the single worst atrocity in the region, where there have been a sudden upsurge in attacks and increasing signs that a concerted militant assault is underway to force an entire community to leave,” the charity reported.
Rev. Ukuma Jonathan Angbianbee, the local priest, said he and others barely escaped alive.
“When we heard the shots and saw the militants, we committed our lives to God. This morning, I thank God I am alive,” he said.
“What I saw was truly gruesome. People were slaughtered. Corpses were scattered everywhere.”
“There is no question about who carried out the attack. They were definitely Fulanis. They were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’” he said, referring to a group of Islamic extremists.
“The morning after the attack, there were plenty of police and other security, but where were they the previous evening when we needed them?” another priest who was not named said, adding, “This is by far [the] worst atrocity we have seen. There has been nothing even close.”
“Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms. So many bodies were burnt beyond recognition,” Amnesty International Nigeria said, according to ABC.
Pope Leo XIV said that he was praying for those “brutally killed” in “a terrible massacre” and that he was praying for “rural Christian communities of the Benue State who have been relentless victims of violence,” according to Aid to the Church in Need.
The region of the attack has seen other raids in which more than 100 people have been killed and more than 5,000 people uprooted from their homes.
Church leaders fear that there is a plan to rid the area of Christians through these attacks, the charity reported.
Nearly 10,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by Islamic extremists from November 2022 to November 2024, according to Global Christian Relief.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
