Christian farming communities in the Mushere District of Bokkos Local Government Area in Plateau State have been under attack since late May by militant Muslim Fulani herdsmen. Thirty-five people have been killed so far and 13,000 others, predominantly women and children, internally displaced.

The victims have had to flee to already overcrowded IDP camps and neighbouring communities. Their livestock, farmland and food stores were also stolen or destroyed in the attacks and more than 2,000 buildings including houses, at least sixteen church buildings and schools laid waste. The displacement and insecurity has resulted in thousands of children remaining out of school. Fulani militants equipped with military-grade weapons also use kidnapping and sexual violence against women and girls to terrorise and dispossess Christian communties in the Middle Belt region.

Rev John Dakwat, a local minister with the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) denomination, who is one of the many who have been displaced, outlined the background to the situation, saying: “For generations, we have lived peacefully with neighbouring communities, including the Fulani herders, with a spirit of accommodation and coexistence. As a mark of goodwill, the Mushere people have generously provided land to Fulani settlers for grazing and farming without compensation, motivated by hopes of fostering harmony and shared prosperity. There are intermarriages among our people and the Fulani. However, recently the Mushere people started experiencing the betrayal of the goodwill their forefathers had extended to the Fulani.”

The current wave of attacks began on 25 May when Rev Mimang Lekyil of the COCIN church in Kwakas was brutally murdered by suspected kidnappers. The attack, in which his wife was shot in the leg, took place a short distance from a Nigerian Army outpost, and the violence has continued since then.

Church in Chains partner organisation Stefanos Foundation visited several communities in Mushere district as well as an IDP camp in Bokkos town in August to carry out a fact-finding report, which concluded: “With over twenty communities attacked and hundreds of houses burnt, the Mushere area is clearly unsafe for the ethnic Christians now. There is also absence of security personnel in affected areas. This is terrorism. This is religious cleansing; cleansing of majority law abiding citizens by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen, who believe in religious war against other religious groups.”

Eyewitness Accounts

CALEB GOAR SWARSHAK (The Stefanos Foundation team met Caleb in the ruins of a COCIN church in Dingak. The community had been attacked and the area was almost completely deserted.) “I am from Dingak. Fulani attacked our community on the Thursday, 7^th August 2025. They burnt our pastorium [minister’s house] down, cut our crops, injured our people and even broke the windows of the church and burnt the chairs and furniture. One of the persons injured is critically ill and we don’t know if he will survive. They also burnt our houses and stole our animals. We that are left here are without any form of security and only praying for help.”

CHRISTIANA GODFREY “I am from Ngwalap. I am a Pastor’s wife. Fulani attacked our community on the 9th of August 2025. They killed the Secretary of our church in neighboring Dimar, as well as a young man, an elderly man and one woman. They moved to Danshang and Mbor before they came to us in Ngwalap. They met myself and my husband in front of our house and it’s just by God’s grace we escaped. We trekked on foot to Bokkos town.”

LARABA JOSEPH “I am from Njin. Our community was attacked on the 3rd of August 2025. My sister in-law was killed in the attack. Our pastorium was set on fire but by God’s grace didn’t burn down. They didn’t burn houses except the church which was clearly targeted.“

The Stefanos team identified the following needs: food, bedding, clothes, cooking utensils, roofing materials and medical care including counselling and trauma care.

Church in Chains has sent a grant of €6,000 to assist with these needs – it will bring support to 200 households.

(Stefanos Foundation)

Images: Stefanos Foundation