Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe said the latest wave of Fulani terrorist attacks, resulting in the slaughter of at least 85 Christians, are part of a systemic genocide.
(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi slammed the recent brutal attacks on Nigerian Christians by Fulani militias as part of a "genocide" in which the country's government is complicit.
In a June 4 interview with ACI Africa, the bishop emphasized that the latest wave of Fulani terrorist attacks, which began May 25 and have continued into early June, resulting in the slaughter of at least 85 Christians, are part of a systemic genocide of the country's Christian population. Anagbe also sharply criticized the Nigerian government for failing to protect the nation's Christians against the continued attacks.
Nigeria has been named the most dangerous region for Christians.
“No nation watches her citizens slaughtered like animals and says there is nothing to be done. It’s genocide,” the bishop said.
The Fulani terrorists opened their wave of attacks on May 25, a Sunday, by massacring 20 lay Christians, as well as abducting a priest and several nuns. A week later, in another major attack on Sunday, June 1, the Fulani militias killed at least 43 Christians in Gwer West and Apa counties.
Anagbe emphasized that this recent wave of killings has led to two parishes in his diocese being closed, bringing the total of diocesan churches abandoned due to persecution up to 17.
“Some parishes span up to 20 kilometers, with many outstations and zones. When we talk about 17 parishes being shut, it means an entire community has been displaced and taken over. They cannot go back,” the bishop said.
Anagbe then highlighted that, ultimately, the slaughtering of Christians is an attempted genocide aimed at changing Benue's demographic makeup.
"(I)t has always been a jihadist war – an attempt to occupy and conquer territory. There is no other explanation. It is an Islamic war aimed at targeting predominantly Christian tribes,” he said.
READ: New report details atrocities of persecution in Nigeria with 8,000 Christians killed last year alone
The bishop further emphasized the government's refusal to arrest the perpetrators and even suggested that they are actively supporting the mass slaughter of the country's Christians.
"Nigeria has the capacity to handle this. It’s just the will that is not there," Anagbe said.
"The government is involved. The government is aiding, supporting, and abetting these people to continue to kill our people. Period," he added.
In March, Anagbe traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before the U.S. House Affairs Subcommittee on Africa to make the case for Donald Trump's State Department to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the deteriorating religious freedom of the nation's Christians. The Biden administration had removed Nigeria from the list of nations with severe violations of religious freedom.
Indeed, the 2025 Global Christian Relief (GCR) Red List report named Nigeria as the most dangerous region for Christians in the world.
The GCR report detailed how “most of the killings” in Nigeria happened in the country’s northern “sharia” states, where Christians “often live in remote villages in semi-arid landscapes, making them particularly vulnerable to attacks.” Notably, the same report highlighted the failure of the Nigerian government in stopping these anti-Christian attacks, stating that “despite government assurances that they will defeat the extremists, the violence continues to escalate.”
READ: Nigeria, 3 other African countries are deadliest for Christians: report
