In Nigeria, Christians living in the country’s Middle Belt region are under constant threat of attack from Fulani militants and Islamic terrorist groups. Unfortunately, the risk of attack only increases around major Christian holidays, as militants time their attacks to inflict maximum terror and make known their message that Christians are not welcome in the region.
Two years ago, at least 140 Christians were massacred by Fulani militants wielding guns on Christmas Eve in Nigeria’s Plateau state. Timothy Nuwan, the vice president of Church of Christ in Nations, told AFP, “Many people were killed, slaughtered like animals in cold blood.” The militants torched people’s homes and burnt down eight churches, again demonstrating the religious motive behind the attack.
And this year, 72 people were killed during the Easter Triduum in Benue state. Following the attack, Father Moses Aondoanenge Igba, a Catholic priest in the area, noted to Catholic New Agency’s Africa division the reason why the attack was timed to the most sacred period of the Christian liturgical year.
“I ask myself, why is it always during Christian festive periods that these killings take place?” Igba said. “Either Christmas or Easter, they come to disrupt our celebrations. It points to a conquest ideology. It is more than just terrorism; it is about land occupation and Islamization.”
For Nigerian Christians in the Middle Belt region, the upcoming Christmas holiday is putting them on high alert. According to Judd Saul, the founder of Equipping the Persecuted, an organization that aids Christians facing persecution, Fulani terrorists are preparing to attack a number of villages on Christmas Day.