Nigeria's Christians on edge for Easter after Palm Sunday massacre

JOHANNESBURG - A Holy Week attack in a predominantly Christian town in Nigeria that left a reported 28 dead has led to widespread fears that more of Christ's followers could be targeted over the coming Easter weekend.

On Palm Sunday last weekend, multiple gunmen reportedly shouted a Muslim declaration as they randomly opened fire in the predominantly Christian town of Angwan Rukuba in the Jos District of Nigeria's Plateau State.

"The terrorists stormed the area in a commando style and started shooting, sporadically chanting, 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great in Arabic)," a field worker told the aid agency Voice of the Martyrs from the scene. "The area is (a majority) Christian community."

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Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK & Ireland, told Fox News Digital this Easter there are fears of more attacks against Christians in Nigeria.

"Tragic events like this are all too common in Plateau State and large areas of northern Nigeria," Blyth said. 

"And too often they can occur on Christian holy days like this. Indeed, people in the region will remember the devastating 2023 Christmas Eve attacks in Benue state that killed over 140 people."

Nigeria is ranked the seventh-worst country in the world for Christian persecution by Open Doors. The organization claims it accounts for 72% of the total number of Christian killings worldwide in 2025.

A local human rights lawyer who asked to conceal his name due to security fears, was nearby when the latest attack happened. He told Fox News Digital, "A group of people came, around 20, some on motorcycles, and started shooting."

He added the area is essentially a Christian one "and for anybody to go and openly shoot at people, then it must be that that person had Christians in mind."

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Another local Christian resident, who also asked to withhold his name, told Fox News Digital, "I can assure you that the majority position among Christians in Nigeria is that what we are experiencing in Nigeria is Islamic expansionism, and it must be stopped, using whatever means is necessary."

The human rights lawyer said there are reports of videos circulating that are threatening more attacks against Christians, adding, "Here in Jos in Nigeria, we say that there is no Christian holiday or event left on the Christian calendar that has escaped an attack by radical Islamists or terrorists in Nigeria, whether it is Christmas, Easter or Good Friday, Palm Sunday or Sunday services or whatever. We are trapped."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Todd Nettleton of the Voice of the Martyrs' group said that, in countries like Nigeria, "Easter is often a season of peril. Holy days on the Christian calendar, including Christmas and Easter, are often times when those who hate the Gospel target our brothers and sisters in violent attacks."

Open Doors' Blythe said, "The fear of being brutally attacked will hang over millions of Christians across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, as they prepare for Easter, a festival that should be the most joyful moment in the Christian calendar. We will be praying that Christians around the world will be safe and free to celebrate and worship jubilantly this Eastertide."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Nigerian government for comment but received no response.