by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
ABUJA (Worthy News) – Suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed at least 13 Christians, including three pregnant women, in Nigeria’s central Plateau state days after a pastor and his family were slain in a separate attack, Christians told Worthy News on Monday.
The latest killings happened Friday in the Ngbra Zongo community of Plateau state’s Bassa County, according to Christian leaders and residents.
Joseph Chudu Yonkpa, spokesman for Christian communities in the Miango area, said armed Fulani attackers stormed homes before dawn, killing residents and injuring dozens more.
“The attack has left dozens of other Christians injured and hundreds displaced,” Yonkpa said in a statement.
Resident Lawrence Zongo said the community had suffered previous attacks by armed herdsmen.
“The armed herdsmen moved from one house to another, attacking the Christian victims in their homes,” he said.
PASTOR KILLED
The violence followed another deadly assault on April 26 in the Rim community of neighboring Riyom area, where armed Fulani herdsmen killed Pastor Ayuba Choji, his wife, and two children, according to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
“In the early hours of April 26, the Rev. Ayuba Choji, his wife Chungdun, and two of their children, Cyril and Endurance, were brutally slaughtered in their home,” ECWA leaders said in a statement.
The church described the slain pastor and his family as “martyrs” who died while serving Christians in the area.
Christian leaders say attacks against predominantly Christian farming communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have intensified in recent years amid tensions over land, religion, and grazing routes.
CHRISTIAN CONCERNS
More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country between October 2024 and September 2025, according to the 2026 World Watch List published by Christian advocacy group Open Doors.
The group said 3,490 Christians were killed in Nigeria during that period, accounting for roughly 72 percent of Christians killed worldwide because of their faith.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also warned Friday that armed Fulani militants have carried out “deadly attacks on religious communities,” often targeting Christians.
While many Fulani are nonviolent Muslims, analysts and Christian groups say some armed factions have adopted extremist Islamist ideology similar to Boko Haram and Islamic State-linked militants active in Nigeria.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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Suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed at least 13 Christians, including three pregnant women, in Nigeria’s central Plateau state days after a pastor and his family were slain in a separate attack, Christians told Worthy News on Monday.