LAGOS, Nigeria — April 16, 2025 — A brutal surge of violence has left dozens of Christians dead in Nigeria’s north-central and northeastern regions, with authorities and local leaders decrying the attacks as targeted persecution. On April 14, President Bola Tinubu reported that at least 40 people, primarily Christian farmers, were martyred in a suspected Fulani herder attack in a north-central village. The assault, part of ongoing sectarian clashes over land and resources, has intensified fears among Christian communities.

Samuel Jugo, spokesperson for the Irigwe Development Association, revealed that 75 members of the Christian Irigwe ethnic group have been killed since December 2024, including 51 martyrs, among them a four-year-old child, in a Palm Sunday massacre in Plateau State. “These provocative attacks show a failure of security measures,” Jugo said, urging stronger government action.

Open Doors UK reported on April 14 that 113 people, including a pregnant woman and a ten-year-old girl, were martyred in recent assaults, displacing thousands into overcrowded camps. In Bokkos County, the state governor labeled the killings a “genocide,” with over 60 Christians martyred in early April alone, according to Release International. Boko Haram’s insurgency in Borno State has further compounded the crisis, with a January 2025 attack displacing 4,000 Christians and destroying churches, as noted by International Christian Concern.

The violence, driven by resource conflicts and jihadist groups like Boko Haram and the newly designated Lakurawa terrorists, has left Christian communities reeling. Despite military efforts, the martyrdom of believers continues unabated, prompting calls for urgent international intervention to protect Nigeria’s vulnerable faithful.