Nigerian Christians are facing a grim and anxious Easter season.

Attacks by Islamist militants, aiming to establish a Muslim caliphate in Nigeria, continue unabated despite Christians accounting for nearly half of the population (46%).

Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern (ICC), characterized the situation as a potential “genocide,” stating that “Nigeria’s Christians are being wiped out.”

King highlighted recent attacks in Bokkos County, Plateau State, on April 2-3, 2025, where over 60 Christians were killed and 383 homes were burned. He described the attacks as “gut-wrenching,” emphasizing that such violence has been ongoing for two decades and is only increasing.

King asserted that the violence is not random but a deliberate effort to eliminate Christians, supported by figures from local leaders in Nigeria.

He stated that “up to 100,000 Christians have been butchered, and 3.5 million farmers have been kicked off their land by Fulani Islamist terrorists” since 2001. He described the attackers as being armed with AK-47s, machetes, and gasoline, and that the government has been inactive for 20 years.

King believes the situation is “a massive land grab disguised as a dispute or tribal spat” and “a massive and long-running stealth jihad.”

A widow of an attack reportedly told the ICC that the attackers want “our land, our lives, our Jesus.”

The ICC and local sources reported that 54 Christians were killed after a Palm Sunday service in Zikke, near Jos. They claim the attack lasted an hour without intervention from authorities.

Members of a Christian group in Nigeria provided Digital with a list of recent attacks.

Nigeria ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watchlist as a place where Christians face extreme persecution.

Ryan Brown, CEO of Open Doors US, said that “Christians in northern and central Nigeria face extreme violence from Boko Haram, ISWAP, (Islamic State West African Province) and armed Fulani militants,” and that “thousands of believers have been killed, hundreds of churches destroyed and entire Christian communities displaced.” Brown added, “The recent attacks in Plateau State represent yet another chapter in this ongoing crisis of religious persecution,”

Brown noted that families have lost male breadwinners and that women and children are often sexually assaulted.

He added that “Survivors are now living in at least four displacement camps, facing food insecurity and unable to access education or worship safely.”

Bishop Ayuba Matawal, chairman of the Nigerian Bokkos Internally Displaced People’s Welfare Committee, said that “some of these extremists have been indoctrinated with an ideology of seizing land from Christian communities, continuing the legacy of Uthman dan Fodio’s vision of spreading Islam across Nigeria.”

The ICC’s King is calling for the U.S. government to designate Nigeria “as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC),” which would entail sanctions and other measures.

King added that the U.S. should “cut off all (financial and military) aid to Nigeria until we start to see a meaningful reduction in attacks, perpetrators arrested and lands restored.”

While not addressing the attacks on Christians, a State Department spokesperson said that “The United States remains deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in West Africa, including in Nigeria’s Middle Belt” and offered condolences to the families of victims of recent violence in Plateau State.

The spokesperson added that the U.S. continues to engage with the Nigerian government to address the causes of violence, advocating for the protection of all citizens.

The State Department spokesperson also acknowledged President Tinubu’s commitment to address the causes of the violence and urged the government to prevent further attacks, ensure accountability, and foster long-term peace and stability.

Bishop Matawal cautioned that “Christian communities are on high alert, especially during church services and religious gatherings.”

King said that “Nigerian Christians are carrying their cross every day, yet their hope rises like the resurrection,” and encouraged support and solidarity with them.

Digital’s request for comment from the Nigerian government went unanswered.