Breaking News: New Year’s Eve Massacre on Christian Community in Nigeria
At least seven people were killed in a New Year’s Eve attack on the Bum community in Chugwi, Vwang District of Jos South Local Government Area in Plateau State. The assault occurred around 11:00 p.m. on December 31, 2025, as residents were preparing to welcome 2026. The Berom Youths Moulder-Association said seven bodies had been recovered by Thursday morning, with search-and-rescue operations ongoing and fears that the death toll could rise.
The attack occurred despite prior security alerts warning that several communities in Jos South LGA were at risk. The killings came amid heightened nationwide security concerns, as churches across Adamawa State canceled New Year “crossover services,” late-night Christian gatherings traditionally held to usher in the New Year through prayer and worship.
Christian leaders issued an urgent security advisory warning of a planned terrorist attack during the celebrations. The alert was released by the Christian Association of Nigeria in Adamawa, citing credible intelligence from the Department of State Services that extremists intended to strike Yola and other parts of the state on New Year’s Eve.
CAN instructed churches and Christian organizations to suspend crossover-night gatherings to protect lives, urging congregations to prioritize safety over tradition. In response to the same threat, the Adamawa State government also canceled its official New Year crossover event, which typically draws large crowds. The simultaneous cancellation of religious and state-sponsored celebrations underscored Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Unfortunately, the warnings proved credible. The seven deaths in Bum add to a growing toll from mass-casualty attacks recorded throughout the year in Bassa, Bokkos, and Barkin Ladi local government areas, highlighting the persistent vulnerability of Christian and rural communities in Plateau State.
The New Year’s Eve attack follows a broader pattern of holiday violence targeting Christians. On Christmas Day 2024, Fulani militants killed 11 Christians in Benue State. During Christmas 2023, coordinated attacks in Plateau State killed more than 140 people and injured over 300 in Christian villages across Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Mangu between December 23 and December 25. The repeated timing of these assaults around major Christian holidays points to deliberate religious targeting.
An August 2025 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law found that at least 7,087 Christians were killed across Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025, an average of 32 per day, with 7,800 abductions documented during the same period. Since 2009, approximately 185,000 Nigerians have been killed, including 125,000 Christians and 60,000 moderate Muslims.
The report also documented the destruction of 19,100 churches, the displacement of more than 1,100 Christian communities, and the seizure of roughly 20,000 square miles of land. More than 600 Christian clerics have been abducted, including 250 Catholic priests and 350 pastors, with dozens killed. Benue State has been among the hardest hit, accounting for at least 1,100 Christian deaths in 2025 alone, including the Yelewata massacre of June 13–14 that killed 280 Christians.
The escalating violence prompted renewed U.S. action. In October 2025, President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom violations, reversing a decision made under President Biden. U.S. Congressman Riley Moore urged the designation, citing the killing of more than 7,000 Christians in 2025 and the destruction of over 19,000 churches since 2009. Trump warned that continued attacks could lead to the suspension of U.S. aid and possible military action.
On Christmas Day 2025, the United States launched airstrikes against Islamic State–affiliated targets in Sokoto State. U.S. Africa Command said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities and targeted two ISIS enclaves in the Bauni forest. Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the operation successfully neutralized the targeted elements. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes were intended to halt the mass killing of Christians.
Separately, gunmen attacked and destroyed the Ipele Divisional Police Station in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State on New Year’s Eve. Between 20 and 30 armed men arrived around 9:41 p.m., firing assault rifles and detonating dynamite before setting the facility ablaze. Police said no lives were lost and dismissed claims that a church was targeted, stating the attack was limited to the police station.
The assault came days after authorities arrested more than 35 suspected terrorists in Ondo State who were reportedly fleeing airstrikes in Sokoto. Additional tactical teams, EOD-CBRN units, and mobile police personnel were deployed, and a manhunt is underway.
Nigerian authorities often describe attackers as bandits rather than terrorists until extremist affiliations are formally confirmed. While many bandit groups are driven primarily by profit through kidnapping and cattle rustling, security analysts note increasing overlap with jihadist organizations, including Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru, and Lakurawa. Infiltration by jihadists has blurred the line between banditry and terrorism.
Nigeria remains at high risk of atrocity crimes, according to the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect. More than 7.8 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance after more than 15 years of persistent insecurity. Armed banditry, inter-communal violence, climate pressures, and weak governance have intensified violence across central and northwestern Nigeria. In the northeast, Boko Haram and ISWAP continue to carry out suicide bombings, mass abductions, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians and infrastructure, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than two million since 2009.
UN bodies have documented extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and arbitrary detention by Nigerian security forces, as well as repeated failures to protect women and children from mass abductions. The International Criminal Court has found reasonable grounds to believe that both Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. With the military overstretched and impunity widespread, rising ethnic and religious tensions, particularly in Plateau and Benue states, continue to fuel the risk of further mass violence.
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