As many people around the world celebrate the Christmas season and the upcoming New Year, Nigerians are shocked and outraged after a massive armed attack in central Nigeria that saw 160 people dead and more than 300 others injured, with the number of dead and injured still expected to rise as families and authorities continue to search for the missing victims.
Death Toll Rises to 150 Following Christmas Eve Attack in Nigeria https://t.co/2fISfUpAaN
— Jagath Kumara (@JagathKey) December 28, 2023
The armed assailants targeted 21 villages in Nigeria’s north-central Plateau State during the “senseless and unprovoked” attacks that began on December 23rd but continued throughout Christmas Eve. These villages, inhabited mainly by Christians, also had most of the houses burned down.
“As I am talking to you, in Mangu local government alone, we buried 15 people. As of this morning, in Bokkos, we are counting not less than 100 corpses. I am yet to take stock of (the deaths in) Barkin Ladi,” the state’s governor, Caleb Mutfwang, said in a broadcast on local Channels Television.
“It has been a very terrifying Christmas for us here in Plateau,” he added.
— Kabongo01 (@Kabongo01188867) December 28, 2023
A local district head in Bokkos said search teams looked for nearby bushes for missing villagers. Thousands of people have been displaced because of the attacks.
On December 26th, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Okoro Alawari, released a statement detailing that around 96 people were killed in two of the 20 local government areas (LGAs) — Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi — and 221 houses were burned.
“The Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, CP Okoro Alawari, expresses grief over the deadly attacks that took place in some remote villages of Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State carried out by some yet-to-identified assailants on December 24, 2023, at odd hours of the night, and sympathizes with the families of those who lost their loved ones in the gruesome attack,” the statement read.
Over Christmas there was yet another massacre of Christians in northern Nigeria. Six years ago I reported from there on the massacres of Christians carried out by Muslim, Fulani militia. I still cannot understand why the world does not care. https://t.co/6gdG8Arkvo
— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) December 26, 2023
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Still, locals in the state blame herders from the Muslim-majority Fulani tribe, who have been accused of carrying out armed attacks across the northwest and central regions of Nigeria, where conflict over access to land and water deepened the decadeslong division between predominantly Muslim herders and Christian farmers in Plateau State and elsewhere.
Amnesty International's country director for Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, called on authorities in Nigeria to investigate after the attack sparked outrage and criticism of the government, with witnesses and survivors saying that little security was present to repel the attacks, some of which lasted seven hours.
"It is really sad and unfortunate that these kinds of things continue to happen, and the authorities cannot do anything apart from sympathizing with the victims, which shows helplessness on their side,” Sanusi said. “Rural communities have been allowed to live in the last ten years or so at the mercy of gunmen."
The West should be prioritising persecuted Christians in our asylum system.
Easier to integrate, share our values, and they’re in much need of help.— Wolf (@WorldByWolf) December 27, 2023
The Nigerian army said it has already begun “clearance operations” to find the suspects with the help of other security agencies, even though arrests for such attacks are rare.
“We will not rest until we bring all those culpable for these dastardly acts to book,” Abdullsalam Abubakar, who commands the army’s special intervention operation in Plateau and neighboring states, said.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, visited the affected villages on December 27th. The country’s President, Bola Tinubu, who came to power in 2023 promising to tackle the security challenges that haunt Nigeria, has yet to make a statement on the recent attacks.
Even though the Nigerian authorities have condemned the attack and promised to hold the perpetrators accountable, some observers remain critical of the Nigerian government’s response.
"I think the government is not doing enough,” Security analyst Chukwudi Victor Odoeme said. ”There's still the absence of political will. It's an indictment on our government and security forces."
