CSW is deeply concerned by ongoing violence in central and northwest Nigeria, where communities continue to be targeted on the basis of religion, belief and ethnicity.
On 15 July, over 30 people were killed in Plateau State in an attack by heavily armed militia men on the Bindi community in the Ta-hoss District of Riyom Local Government Area (LGA), which began at around 3am.
Victims were shot, stabbed or burnt to death in their homes by militia men whom survivors identified as being of Fulani ethnicity. The youngest, a 3-year-old girl, was killed alongside her mother and sibling. The local Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) leader, Rev Davou Musa, lost nine family members. The militia men also broke the church’s windows and looted livestock before leaving the village.
The attack occurred despite the presence of security officers from several agencies in the area. Survivors alleged they had failed to respond to early warning signs after men arrived en masse at a nearby Fulani settlement aboard five pickup trucks. However, others also commended some of the army units for standing their ground and preventing an even higher death toll. The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3 Division, who visited mourners in Bindi, promised to increase security in the area.
Plateau State governor Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, who also visited the area, released a statement in which he acknowledged the efforts of some among the security forces, but stressed that those failing in their duty to protect must be identified and removed. He went on to state that his government would ‘deploy every resource at our disposal to end this genocide. This is not a case of farmer-herder conflict. This is terrorism; this is genocide, plain and simple.’
Since September 2024 at least 73 people have reportedly lost their lives in the Bindi community amid sustained attacks on Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs that have left hundreds, if not thousands, dead.
Elsewhere, in Kaduna State five people were killed and three injured on 11 July in an attack in broad daylight on a meeting in the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) building in Kampani Village, Maro, situated on the main Kaduna-Kachia Highway in Kajuru LGA. Eyewitnesses report that militia men invaded the premises at around 3.30pm and began attacking those present. Assistance from the security services did not arrive until 9.20pm.
Church members Victor Haruna, Dogara Jatau, Luka Yari, Jesse Dalami and Bawu John were killed in the attack, while Samuel Aliyu, Philip Dominic, and Jacob Hussaini were hospitalised with serious injuries.
CSW has also received further details regarding an attack on 7 July on the Yari Bori community in Kafur LGA, Katsina State, in which the Baptist church leader and a church member were killed, and the wife of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor was abducted.
An eyewitness has informed CSW Nigeria that the attack occurred after a women’s music rehearsal, and as the community was socialising. At around 11:00 pm they suddenly heard gunshots, then realised their community had been surrounded.
‘[The attackers] first entered the house of the pastor of the RCCG, saw his wife and children, then asked if the pastor was at home. After they searched everywhere and could not find him, they took her with them into the house next door, which happened to be the home of Rev Emmanuel Na’allah, the leader of Bege Baptist Church. They started asking him about the whereabouts of the RCCG pastor and shot him immediately without waiting to hear his response.’
The men of the community managed to mobilise and resist the attackers. As they fled, they killed 47-year-old father of five Samaila Sani, and abducted Maryam Ezekiel,37, the RCCG church leader’s wife, who remains in captivity.
CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in these recent attacks in Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina States. The scale of loss being experienced by families and communities in these areas is simply staggering. We concur with Governor Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang’s assessment of this violence and echo his call for those in the security services who fail in their duty to protect civilians from this militia threat to be identified and dismissed. In addition, we urge the government of Kaduna State to secure and protect Kajuru and other LGAs that continue to experience attacks, which can only be described as terrorism, that began under the previous administration, and to ensure perpetrators are held to account. We also appeal to the Katsina State government to secure the safe release of Maryam Ezekiel as a matter of urgency, and continue to call for the government of Nigeria to recognise that the scale of the crimes being perpetrated in these areas requires a comprehensive national security response.’