“My parish is really on the front line between the Muslim North and the Christian South,” said Father George, a Catholic priest and pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Dong, on the outskirts of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Plateau, one of only two predominantly Christian states in northern Nigeria, has been the site of numerous attacks by Islamist groups, particularly Fulani militias.
According to local Christians, several factors have made Christian communities especially vulnerable. First, civilians are not permitted to own firearms in Nigeria. As a result, Christians have no means of defending themselves, while jihadists and extremist groups are able to obtain weapons on the black market. In many cases, these weapons have been traced back to the security forces, either sold illegally or reported as “lost.”
Another factor is demographics. Muslims have, on average, many more children than Christians, leaving Christian communities severely outnumbered. In northern Nigeria, Christians make up only about 10 percent of the population.
Other issues date back to the period following independence from Britain, when Muslim communities encouraged their children to enter the security services. “Christians are underrepresented in the police and the security forces,” Father George confirmed. As a result, protection for Christian communities is often limited, delayed, or absent altogether. In some instances, attacks have taken place despite security forces being stationed nearby.
Political power in northern Nigeria is also largely held by Muslims. “Christians have not been taught to play politics,” Father George said regretfully.
There are also religious and cultural factors behind the present situation. Father George explained that Muslims benefited from earlier evangelization by Arab traders, which gave them access to education through the Islamic system. “That system is rooted in domination, and as a result, they learned the art of dominating other tribes they came into contact with,” he said. “Christians are now trying to catch up.”
The historical context for Muslim political power in northern Nigeria began with Ahmadu Bello, who served as the Sardauna, a traditional title meaning “Crown Prince,” of Sokoto and as the first Premier of Northern Nigeria from 1954 until his assassination in 1966. Operating within the framework of the Sokoto Caliphate, he was a central architect of northern Nigerian politics during the transition to independence and the early post-independence period. Bello worked to integrate traditional Islamic authority structures, known as the emirate system, into modern democratic institutions. He also pushed to promote Islamic education and religious unity across the region.
“He was even supposed to form the government at the national level as Prime Minister, but he considered that position beneath him,” Father George said. “He preferred to rule Northern Nigeria rather than serve as Prime Minister of the whole country at independence.” As a result, Father George estimates that the northern Nigerian power bloc has ruled for 47 of the 63 years since independence.
Father George explained how this affects his parish. “It affects us because it limits our access and our opportunities. It limits access to a better life, and it even limits freedom of worship.” He noted that the state exercises broad regulatory power, whether over land to build a church or land to build a school. He went on to say, that in the 1970s “the government unilaterally confiscated all private schools. Most of those private schools were missionary schools, Christian missionary schools,” adding that the government nationalized all of them.
These takeovers were implemented at the state level, with multiple academic sources confirming that Christian missionary schools, which had dominated the Nigerian education system since independence, made up the vast majority of private schools that were nationalized. Multiple sources also document that the takeover led over time to decreased education quality, increased enrollment accompanied by declining standards, and the loss of moral instruction previously provided by religious institutions.
Turning to the security situation and raids by Fulani militias and jihadist groups, Father George said, “In my previous assignment, before I came here, I was serving in Riyom Local Government Area.” Riyom, located in Plateau State, is one of the major flashpoints of violence against Christians and has been the site of multiple, systematic attacks.
In 2025 alone, numerous attacks were recorded. On July 14–15, 2025, thirty-two Christians were killed in Jebu village, where a church was destroyed and homes were burned. On July 15, 2025, twenty-seven Christians were killed in Bindi (Jebu) village, with a mass burial held on July 25. In June 2025, multiple attacks were reported in the Jol and Rim communities, including an assault on Bachi village on June 1. On May 13–14, 2025, twelve Christians were killed in the Wereng community. In April 2025, there were multiple attacks, including the shooting death of Daniel Mwanti on April 12 and the destruction of crops. On March 24, 2025, a nineteen-year-old woman was abducted and gang-raped for four days in Tahoss. On October 31, 2025, twelve Christians were killed in Kwi village.
In most instances, the documented perpetrators were Fulani militias, identified by multiple eyewitnesses and corroborated by local organizations.
“I lost about six outstation churches there,” Father George lamented. “They were completely closed down. One entire village was totally evacuated because of attacks.” In total, he said about six villages that had Catholic churches were evacuated, along with several other Catholic villages that were too small to have their own church. “Altogether, the number of villages evacuated due to Fulani attacks in Riyom Local Government, where I previously served, was about twelve villages.”
He went on to say that his current parish has experienced a brief window of peace, which he attributed to targeted strikes ordered by Donald Trump against extremist groups in Nigeria.
“We are always thanking God because we can see that He is answering our prayers,” Father George said. “I have been in my parish for two years, and in those two years we have experienced, for the first time, two months with no kidnappings and no violence. No kidnapping incidents by the Fulani and no attacks by the Fulani. This is the first time that has happened.”
“The places Trump targeted were the worst ones. They were the main centers of organization. Those areas functioned as their bases. They would gather there, organize themselves, train, mobilize, and strategize. From those sanctuaries, they would then spread out across the country to carry out these atrocities,” he said. “Trump was able to strike them at the source, where they were organizing and mobilizing. It is not that Trump has personally killed any bandits in our state, but because of the pressure he has placed on the Nigerian government.”
Father George explained that the strikes drew international attention to the suffering of Christian communities, which in turn pressured the Nigerian government to allow security forces to act against Islamic extremists. “Before this, there was clear impunity,” he said.
“Now that is why you are seeing calm,” he added. “Beyond that, the situation has exposed the Nigerian government. Their hypocrisy has unraveled. They are now being forced to act, so they have no option but to sit up, and they are sitting up. That is why, as I said, in the last two months we have not heard of any attacks here personally, not even in Riyom.”
Mainstream media and Democrats in Congress have claimed that President Trump is wrong and that there are no attacks on Christians in Nigeria. These claims contradict well-documented evidence. The attacks have been the subject of repeated reporting by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has repeatedly identified Nigeria as a country of particular concern because of the ongoing slaughter of Christians. The media have also claimed that Trump’s airstrikes have been ineffective, a claim that is likewise inconsistent with the facts on the ground.
It is disturbing that the democrats and liberals would abandon Christians in Nigeria even denying that they are under attack simply to spite President Trump. People in Nigeria, however, are aware of the threat and grateful for President Trumps intervention.
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