by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
ABUJA (Worthy News) – Christians in Nigeria’s central Benue state were mourning on Wednesday seven believers reportedly killed by Islamic Fulani herdsmen in escalating anti-Christian attacks.
The killings in Guma County included two Christians murdered on Aug. 24 in Tse Orkpe village and five others slain earlier in the month, local residents said.
It was the same area where as many as 200 Christians were massacred in June in Yelwata village during two days of violence. Nigeria’s secret service later said it arrested two suspects linked to those massacres.
Witnesses said that in the most recent attacks, armed herdsmen ambushed farmers “as if they were animals” and blocked rural roads, making travel deadly.
Police confirmed multiple assaults in August, saying three villagers were killed in Yelwata after officers repelled gunmen elsewhere.
MOST DANGEROUS
Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians.
Nearly 70 percent of all believers killed for their faith worldwide in 2024—about 3,100 of 4,476—were in Nigeria, according to advocacy group Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List.
The country ranked seventh among the 50 nations where Christians face the most persecution.
Despite the violence, Christianity continues to grow—rising from 60 million adherents in 2000 to an estimated 96 million in 2020, with projections of 155 million by 2050, Worthy News documented.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A drug-related standoff between Venezuela and the United States further escalated Saturday as U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended a strike on a suspected drug-trafficking speedboat that killed 11 people in the southern Caribbean.
Ukraine’s president has vowed to continue retaliating against Russian attacks on his country’s energy facilities and civilian sites, despite criticism from neighbors Slovakia and Hungary. Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the remarks after meeting Slovakia’s prime minister in the Ukrainian border city of Uzhhorod.
President Donald J. Trump on Friday revived the historic title “Department of War” for the U.S. Defense Department as his administration claimed credit for freeing dozens of American hostages and pressed for the release of others still held in Gaza and Belarus.
Europe faced fresh anxiety Friday after the White House confirmed the United States will end support for a program that helped prepare Eastern European armies to counter potential Russian aggression.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that any foreign troops sent to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets for destruction” by Russia’s military. His comments came a day after European leaders met in Paris to discuss possible future security guarantees for Ukraine.
Afghan families are forced to make impossible choices after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, devastating the mountainous Kunar province, where entire villages collapsed.
Leaders from 26 nations have pledged to commit troops to Ukraine as part of “post-war security guarantees,” despite mounting concern that such a move could pave the way for a return to conscription and compel young people to serve in volatile territories. The initiative, spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron through the “Coalition of the Willing,” was discussed at a summit in Paris and envisions deployment of a “reassurance force” once fighting subsides.