Over 25 people were killed over Easter weekend during several attacks in Nigeria, with 17 victims reportedly dying on Saturday alone.
The attacks took place in northern Nigeria with an estimated total of 26 dead, according to a report from the Associated Press, citing Nigerian military and local officials.
The 17 individuals who were killed on Saturday died after armed men attacked the Mbalom community in the Gwer West area of Nigeria’s north-central Benue State.
Benue State Gov. Hyacinth Alia confirmed the deaths on Sunday. A local resident, Tarhana Samson, said the attacks were “devastating.”
“The rainy season is coming, and this is when people are preparing to go to their farms. How do they do that now?” he asked.
There was yet another attack on Easter Saturday against a police headquarters in Borno State.
Borno Police Public Relations Officer Kenneth Daso told The Associated Press that the assault resulted in the death of four police officers following a gunfight with an Islamic State-affiliated group.
In addition, an Easter service in Ariko village saw gunmen kill five people, according to army sources.
The identity of the gunmen is still unknown.
“Regrettably, the remains of five victims already killed by the terrorists were also recovered at the scene,” the army reported. “The fleeing terrorists are believed to have sustained significant casualties, as evidenced by blood trails along their escape routes.”
The BBC also reported that 31 civilians were held hostage during the Ariko church siege Sunday. The hostages were ultimately rescued.
Soldiers had a “fierce firefight” with the attackers and were able to get them to retreat, forcing the suspects to abandon their hostages and the bodies of their victims.
Despite the army’s claim about responding quickly, the BBC wrote that local media reports said the gunmen were able to operate “for a long time without facing resistance.”
The AP blamed “disputes over land and grazing between mostly Muslim Fulani herders and largely Christian farming communities” for the violence, saying their conflicts “frequently escalate into deadly clashes.”
President Donald Trump has frequently commented on the murder of innocent Christians in Nigeria and abroad.
In November, only one day after denouncing such attacks, he posted a message on Truth Social suggesting that he might send troops overseas if the Nigerian government didn’t stop the bloodshed.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” he wrote.
Trump added, “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
In early December, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Nigerians who are involved in the persecution of Christians will not receive visas.
About three weeks later, Trump announced that he had “launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” the commander in chief added. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”
Mainstream media outlets have been criticized for downplaying the crisis of Christian persecution in Nigeria and for choosing to focus on attacks against Muslims.
Two House Republicans, however, introduced new legislation in February that would require the State Department to create a report detailing American efforts to help persecuted Nigerian Christians.
GOP Reps. Riley Moore of West Virginia and Chris Smith of New Jersey proposed the “Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026,” which seeks to assess Nigeria’s cooperation with U.S. efforts to safeguard its Christian community.
“This legislation makes clear that the United States stands with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and seeks to help Nigeria address its many challenges,” Moore said in a press release.
The report, to be compiled by Rubio, would include an assessment of Nigeria’s compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act.
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