According to a blog post called The Pillar, the attacks began in the city of Jos when Fulani gunmen kill 28 Christians returning from Palm Sunday services. It happened in the Angwan Rukuba area, which is predominantly Christian.
AFN reported previously on this attack, noting how a temporary curfew was put in place afterward.
Arielle Del Turco from Center for Religious Liberty for Family Research Council noted how the northern part of Nigeria is where many conflicts between Christian and Muslim villages take place.
Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs says the Easter season is always dangerous for Christians in Nigeria.
“You have a very large attack in a very large city. When the gunfire started, the police all fled. You see that happen, and you have to be nervous as Easter approaches,” Nettleton says.
The attacks continued on Monday in Kautikary, on Thursday and Good Friday in Nasarawa, on Saturday in Mbalom and at two churches on Easter Sunday in Ariko and Maro Kasuwa.
“Every time our brothers and sisters go into a church building, they know they might not come out, and yet they choose to gather for worship. I think it's—honestly, it's incredibly inspiring,” Nettleton states.
The attack on Monday in Kautikary has been attributed to an ISIS offshoot. All the rest of the killings were allegedly at the hands of the Fulani, a herding tribe that are mostly Muslim.
“There is a movement of Fulani coming to know Jesus Christ,” Nettleton says. “There is also a certain number of Fulani that are strong Islamists. They kind of have that jihadist mindset.”
Nettleton says President Donald Trump has called out Nigeria because of the persecution of Christians in that central African country.
“The State Department is certainly watching Nigeria, now that it has been named a country of particular concern by the president,” Nettleton states.
