By Masara Kim
(Jos) On Christmas Eve, last-minute shoppers swarmed local markets to snag final gifts and goodies for the holiday, but the festive atmosphere belied a grim reality. Over a dozen souls were killed just two days before, and the days ahead do not look good, with ongoing rumors of more attacks during the holiday season.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in his Christmas message, “Christmas embodies the fulfillment of divine prophecy and symbolizes the triumph of love, peace, and unity.” He encouraged Nigerians to pray for the nation’s troops and to extend kindness and love to those facing difficulties.
However, the year 2024 has been a devastating year for Christians in Nigeria, marked by a surge in wanton murder by extremists who left thousands dead or displaced according to church leaders speaking to TruthNigeria. Seemingly known by God alone and unseen by salaried officials, they languish in makeshift camps for internally displaced persons who face ‘catastrophic’ levels of malnutrition according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Despite the trauma and heartache, Nigerian believers from the oil-rich South to the terror-battered North refused to let their faith be shaken. Many drew strength from a recent Christmas feeding outreach by the U.S.-based nonprofit Equipping the Persecuted Initiative, where the persecuted Christians looked to the birth of Jesus Christ as a cipher of hope in a dark world.
“Christians have faced and are still facing devastating attacks and violations that seem to threaten our survival in Nigeria,” said Rev. Dr. Stephen Panya, the Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
“But persecution perseverance is one of the core values we have been taught and are continuing to teach in the face of trials,” said Rev. Panya in a telephone interview with TruthNigeria.
Rev. Polycarp Zongo, a Nigerian minister recently held captive by Islamic State terrorists for ten months told TruthNigeria he remains grounded in his faith and looks forward to celebrating Christmas with his family. Despite still recovering from the trauma of the terrorists’ captivity, Zongo shared plans to start a mission to advocate for victims of terror and win more souls for Christ.
“I’ve virtually lost everything since my kidnap in September 2021, but each time I remember my experience and the fact that there are people still held in the same manner, I lose appetite and sleep,” said Zongo to TruthNigeria.
“The horrors of that camp I wouldn’t wish for my worst enemy,” Zongo said, recalling watching many fellow hostages get slaughtered prior to his release in June 2022.
As he shared his testimony from his home in northern Nigeria on December 23, 14 people, including a pregnant woman and a year-old baby were buried following an evening raid of a Christian town 22 miles southwest of Jos, the capital of Plateau state, the previous day.
It was the latest in a series of armed assaults by terrorists identified by survivors as members of the Fulani ethnicity. The majority-Muslim tribe with more than 20 million members across West Africa is credited with the earliest Jihad wars around the region, and thousands of genocidal massacres in Nigeria.
Residents say the attackers shouted ‘Allahu Akhbar’ and targeted Christians shortly after an evening Christmas carol was held in a local church.
The attack followed a series of advance warnings of attacks in the state published by TruthNigeria. Soldiers stationed in the area allegedly failed to take action after locals reported uncharacteristic movements in the neighborhood hours before the attack on December 22.
The attack — a day before the anniversary of last year’s six-day massacre of more than 200 Christians 20-30 miles away has raised fears of another “Black Christmas.”
In a bid to circumvent similar loss of life during this year’s holiday season, authorities announced traffic restrictions in five counties. They include Mangu, Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bassa, all of them burned-over grounds of midnight attacks by Fulani mercenaries in recent years.
However, youth leaders fed up with the government’s approach are determined to take hold of their destiny in their while they still can.
“Remain vigilant and maintain absolute security alertness throughout the Christmas period,” said tribal leader Farmasum Fuddang, exhorting members to prepare for self-defense in the face of attacks.
“Personal safety is paramount, even if it means being arrested for taking necessary precautions,” said Fuddang, Chairman of Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) Vanguard, in a statement challenging the country’s strict gun-control laws.
Ezekiel Bini, the leader of Plateau Ethnic Youth Nationalities, a coalition of local youth associations echoed these sentiments fearlessly during the burial of 14 victims attended by civil- and military officials on December 23.
“Defend yourself and don’t depend on the Nigerian army,” said Ezekiel Bini, leader of the Plateau Ethnic Youth association. “Kill anyone that wants to kill you,” he said.
The marauding raids in Plateau State only intensified after the mass attacks in January and included a broad-daylight invasion of a university campus south of Jos. Death tolls from the ongoing raids peaked at a record 1,336 between last December and February according to Amnesty International.
The figures denote only a snapshot of suffering across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where Christians are in the majority, yet rarely in power. Its closest neighbor, Benue State, recently emerged as the epicenter of Fulani violence. Within just one year, the state recorded 2,600 Christian murders according to Amnesty International. At least 135 attacks were launched in more than 50 rural communities between January 2023 and February 2024, according to the organization in a statement.
Both states are near the northwestern state of Kaduna, which witnessed escalated kidnap attacks by terrorists overlapping from the nearby states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kebbi.
As of April 2024, as many as 1,302,443 people have fled their homes due to armed attacks wracking communities in the northwest and north central regions of Nigeria alone, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says as many as 51,887,032 violent crimes were reported within the past one year.
The northwestern region led with 4,402,254 cases and was followed by the North-Central which recorded 8,771,400 cases.
Violence was less acute in the southern region. The NBS data shows only 11.9 percent of crimes were recorded in the oil-rich region, the least in the country, despite ongoing secessionist campaigns. However, crimes have included the attempted trafficking of 13 children in the state of Anambra. Local media quote officials as saying the minors were kidnapped and were about to be “sold out” this Christmas when they were rescued.
But the situation is not entirely hopeless, acknowledged Rev. Dr. Panya.
“We have seen a slight decline in the number of attacks compared to last year, and I pray the latest violence in Plateau State does not go beyond that,” said Panya, who recently led a rally against Christian murders in Plateau State.
According to Mr. Emmanuel Umeagbalasi, Chairman and CEO of Intersociety, an international nonprofit monitoring genocide around the world, Christian massacres dropped by more than 40 percent in 2024 compared to more than 8,000 last year.
As of late November, slightly more than 4,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria since January, wrote Umeagbalasi to TruthNigeria. Although the figures were projected to rise by the end of the year, Umeagbalasi expects them to remain around 5,000.
Panya attributes this feat to the combined efforts of both the military and civilian volunteer forces. Time will tell whether the regular assurances of the military that victory over terrorism is within its grasp, is a “desire fulfilled,” in the words of Proverbs, or on the contrary, a “hope deferred” which makes the heart sick.
Masara Kim is a conflict reporter in Jos and a senior Editor at TruthNigeria
