Iowa-Based Charity Delivering Supplies to Victims
By Lawrence Zongo
At least 54 Christians were killed on Sunday night, April 14, in Zikke village, located in Bassa County, west of Plateau State’s capital, Jos. The attack took place shortly after Palm Sunday celebrations, leaving behind charred homes, mass displacement, and dozens of families in mourning.
Eyewitnesses and local leaders attribute the violence to suspected Fulani ethnic militias who stormed the hamlet of 3,000 people in the evening, setting homes ablaze and shooting residents.
The village was undefended by community guards, dubbed “vigilantes” in Nigeria. Cell phone coverage was spotty, and roads were primitive, making quick escape arduous. For terrorists, this village was low-hanging fruit, observers said.
The terrorists left behind the corpses of deceased women, children, and senior citizens in their homes, which they torched as they left the village. Relatives were traumatized since they had to bear the stench of the burned bodies of their loved ones from smoking compounds.
According to community members, the assault lasted for about an hour before security forces arrived. By then, most of the village had been destroyed.
The President of the Irigwe Youth Movement described the event in an interview with TruthNigeria as a targeted attack. “It was genocide,” he said, noting that 51 victims were buried in a mass grave. Three others received individual Christian burials.
Equipping the Needy Delivers Aid to Plateau Victims.
A missionary aid society based in Iowa has been rushing medicine and emergency food to the stricken communities in Plateau since the first wave of attacks on April 2, according to Judd Saul, founder of Equipping the Needy in Nigeria.
“We have known for some time that this area would be attacked close to Easter,” Saul said to TruthNigeria, a project of Iowa-based Equipping the Persecuted. “It appears that the Nigerian government is both complicit and negligent,” Saul added. “There is no excuse for the Nigerian government to ignore the slaughter of innocents in Plateau State.”
‘How Do Fulanis Get Guns, And We Don’t’: Pastor
Pastor Ishaku Mathew Kure of the Baptist Church in Zikke confirmed that 10 of his congregants were among the dead. Speaking to TruthNigeria, he recounted hearing gunshots from a distance before seeing the assailants approaching his church.
“I had gunshots around noon. The guns were sounding much, but I’m not sure if other youths noticed,” Kure said. “I saw the attackers moving close to my church. They were killing people while speaking both English and Fulani. When one spoke Fulani, the other translated into English, saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s go.’”
He escaped with his family through the back door, watching from a hill as the village was attacked. “We obey the law as Christians, but I ask — how did the Fulani get guns, and we don’t? The government failed to protect us. If the Nigerian constitution allowed us to own guns, we would defend ourselves,” he added.
The wife of a TruthNigeria reporter lost eight of her family members in the massacre.
Residents say the attackers destroyed 103 family households and displaced the entire village population. A survivor, who asked not to be named, said the attackers looted and burned homes. “It was very dark and hot that night. We ran for our lives. Children and old people who couldn’t run were killed.”
Amnesty International Denounces Army Response
Amnesty International issued a statement Monday morning (April 14) condemning the killings and destruction of property. “The inexcusable security lapses that enabled this horrific attack — two weeks after the killing of 52 people — must be investigated. Issuing bland statements is not enough. Authorities must ensure justice.”
The attack comes amid broader violence in Plateau State, where rural Christian communities have faced repeated assaults in recent years. From December 2023 to February 2024, more than 1,336 people were killed across the state, according to data compiled by humanitarian organizations. Among the dead were 533 women and 263 children. More than 29,554 people were displaced during the same period, including over 13,000 children and 16,000 women.
Two-tiered Law Enforcement
Eli Bako, a lawmaker in the Plateau State House of Assembly representing the Rukuba and Irigwe constituency, visited the area following the attack.
“Security has failed,” he told TruthNigeria. “One day, there will be no people left in this constituency. The security forces collect arms from the locals but don’t retrieve them from the Fulani.”
The Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Rt. Hon. Joyce Lohya Ramnap, said: “This attack is one too many. It poses an existential threat to peace-loving communities of the state.”
“These attacks are attempts to puncture the fragile peace that has been returning to the state,” she went on to say. “We call on the communities to remain calm but vigilant. The Mutfwang administration will deal decisively with any group or individuals found responsible for these crimes.”
She also advised residents against retaliatory attacks and urged security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration previously has announced new security measures to curb rising insecurity in the country. However, local officials and residents say those efforts have yet to produce results. The attack on Zikke marks another incident in a growing pattern of violence in the region.
According to Pastor Kure, Zikke village had no history of conflict before the attacks began in recent years. “We lived peacefully. Now, our church members are gone, our homes are burnt, and our people are scattered,” he said.
The Nigerian Army did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Community members said soldiers arrived only after the attackers had already left, despite being stationed in a nearby area.
Lawrence Zongo is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
