Islamist militants carried out coordinated attacks on Christian communities in northeastern Nigeria on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14, Barnabas Aid reported Tuesday.
The Islamists, dressed as soldiers, stormed into Gatamarwa and Tsiha villages in Chibok Local Government Area in Borno State, riding motorcycles and trucks fitted with machine guns.
The jihadists opened fire on residents of Gatamarwa, including a group of Christian mourners returning from a funeral. They also torched a number of homes after looting food supplies.
The Barnabas Fund noted that Boko Haram jihadists are also suspected of murdering Christian Pastor Luka Levong during a January 5 raid in Geidam, Yobe State, which neighbors Borno State. Gunmen shot Pastor Luka dead around 2:00am along with Maina Abdullahi, the church’s treasurer, and four others.
The assailants also burned down several houses and a church during their attack on the community.
These lethal January attacks followed on a Christmas killing spree in Nigeria’s middle belt that left nearly 300 Christians dead.
File/A Christian Adara boy prays along with his mother while attending the Sunday’s service at Ecwa Church, Kajuru, Kaduna State, Nigeria, on April 14, 2019. The ongoing strife between Muslim herders and Christian farmers is a divisive issue for Nigeria and some other countries in West Africa. (LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)
The Islamist Christmas massacre in Plateau State in central Nigeria, which went largely unreported by mainstream media, began on December 23 and lasted through December 27. The number of dead was originally reported to be around 175 but the death toll has since risen to nearly 300.
“The unprovoked attacks were well-coordinated and deliberate, specifically targeting Christian communities,” said Father Andrew Dewan, communications director for the Pankshin Diocese, where the killings took place.
“I can confirm that the victims are 100 percent Christian,” said the priest, adding that “not one Fulani was affected and no Fulani houses were burned.”
“For those who believe that this conflict is not religious, this latest attack proves that it is clearly a religious conflict,” Dewan said.
“The fact that it took place at Christmas, and the deliberate targeting of Christians in a mixed community where Muslims are not attacked, clearly bears all the hallmarks of a religious conflict,” he added.
Christians were “summarily shot and killed,” the priest said, and “houses and corn that had been harvested were set ablaze; churches and clinics were also set on fire.”
“For those who believe that this conflict is not religious, this latest attack proves that it is clearly a religious conflict,” Dewan said.
This image grab made from an AFPTV video taken in Maiyanga village, in Bokkos local government, on December 27, 2023 shows families burying in a mass grave their relatives killed in deadly attacks conducted by armed groups in Nigeria’s central Plateau State.(KIM MASARA/AFPTV/AFP via Getty)
“The fact that it took place at Christmas, and the deliberate targeting of Christians in a mixed community where Muslims are not attacked, clearly bears all the hallmarks of a religious conflict,” he added.
“The attacks were deliberate and also symbolic because of the timing,” the priest noted.
“There had been rumors in the mainstream and social media that Fulanis were going to attack, and that the aim was to inflict pain and maximum destruction on the Christians.”
Thomas D. Williams is Breitbart Rome Bureau Chief and author of The Coming Christian Persecution.