There’s been a severe uptick in violence in Plateau state, central Nigeria. This is a summary of the information we have so far, and there are prayer points at the end. Please join us in lifting Nigeria to God in prayer.

On Thursday 27 September, gunmen attacked and killed 14 Christians, including four children, in a suburb of the capital, Jos. Nine of the victims were from the same family. The killings continued uninterrupted despite the area being close to an army barracks, and soldiers later opened fire on people protesting the murders, killing three more young men. This infuriated protestors even further, and they attacked and vandalised a police station.

The following day, the army confronted local youth who were stopping and searching passing vehicles for assailants, resulting in an unknown number of casualties. Later that evening students at the University of Jos repelled an attack on their halls of residence.

The violence and killings escalated despite a 6am to 6pm curfew in the affected areas. On Saturday some youth reportedly killed a Muslim youth in retaliation for earlier killings, and five non-Muslims were killed in further retaliation.

On Sunday morning came news of Christians being attacked after church services. Unconfirmed news of the murder of a Christian woman by Muslim youth in the Dutse Uku area, as she was making her way home, led to an immediate reprisal killing. That evening, as the violence continued to surge, armed men in military fatigues tried to break into student residences at the university. Twenty-three year-old law student Kums Shadrack Fenan was shot in the head while assisting others to safety. A friend said Kums had “saved the whole student village,” and had assisted a mother and child to safety before he was killed. Two other students were seriously injured, and two were reported missing.

Also on Sunday evening, ten people were killed in Naraguta, allegedly by soldiers. The District Head’s home was burned down and musical instruments destroyed in a fire that partially damaged a Baptist Church.

District Head's destroyed home.

On Nigeria’s Independence Day on Monday 1 October, students from other states were evacuated from university residences. That day came reports of men in military attire shooting and killing non-Muslim youth in the Angwan Rukuba area of Jos. At one point Muslim leaders accompanied by a cameraman are reported to have visited the area to ‘make peace’. However, attacks resumed immediately after this visit. 

One local resident told Nigerian media, “I went to find a way of taking my kids out of the area. What I saw baffled me. People who came for ‘peace talk’ tricked our boys to be shot.”

On Tuesday 2 October, 13 were killed in an attack in Jol village in Riyom Local Government Area (LGA). On the night of Wednesday 3 October herder militia killed 19 people in Ariri village, Bassa (LGA). On the night of Thursday 4 October four people were killed including a soldier (Sgt Sunday Tukur), and  a mobile policeman was injured in an attack on Nkiendoro village, Bassa LGA. According to survivors, around 200 attackers dressed in black arrived at 7pm and left at 11.45pm, having destroyed 104 rooms, 75 food barns, 47 farms, 17 water pumps and a motorcycle. This is the same village where in October last year, people were massacred as they were locked in a classroom, after the soldiers who had said they would safeguard them retreated as the militia advanced.

Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, Anglican Archbishop of Jos, said, “We have no gatekeepers. We have no gates. We have no walls. We are porous. We have become prey and sport. The whole nation is spectating and passing by. We have become like the northern Kingdom of Israel in the hands of the Assyrians… And yet I will hope in the Lord.”

In another worrying development, after draining a pond in the Dara Du area the military found the vehicle of recently retired Major General Alkali, formerly Chief of Administration, Army Headquarters, Abuja, who had been declared missing on 3rd September; along with other vehicles and several bodies. It is unclear who is responsible for these killings. However, the army has denied rumours that the military plan to attack the local community to avenge the Major General’s disappearance, and has said it wants locals to assist in tracing the Major General’s whereabouts.

Please pray:

• For God’s healing for the survivors of the recent attacks in Plateau State and comfort for the bereaved.
  
• That God would deliver Plateau state from this violence, expose the perpetrators, and bring an end to their activities.
  
• Thanking God for protecting CSW-Nigeria staff and contacts, and asking him to continue to protect them.
  
• That the armed forces would protect communities in an unbiased manner.
  
• For justice for the Major General and other victims found in the pond in Dara Du, and for the real perpetrators to be exposed.
  
• That God would move powerfully to bring justice, peace, reconciliation and healing to every part of Nigeria.