Police officers gather at the scene of Sunday night gunmen attack in Gari Ya Waye community in the Jos North Nigeria, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Omale)
At least 26 people have been killed in three separate Easter attacks in northern Nigeria, according to the Nigerian military and local officials.
At least 17 were killed on April 4 when armed men attacked the Mbalom community in the Gwer West area of Nigeria’s north-central Benue State.
Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia confirmed the attacks on April 5, but did not specify how many people were killed in the attack. Residents gave the figure of 17.
Attacks like these are part of a long-running cycle of violence in north-central Nigeria, where disputes over land and grazing between mostly Muslim Fulani herders and largely Christian farming communities frequently escalate into deadly clashes. Criminal gangs are also active.
In a separate attack early April 4 morning against a police headquarters in Borno State in the northeast of the country, four police officers were killed after a protracted gunfight with an ISIL-affiliated group, according to Borno Police Public Relations Officer Kenneth Daso.
On April 5, at an Easter service in Ariko village, in Kaduna state, gunmen killed five people according to the army.
The identity of the gunmen is unknown. The army said the assailants were forced to abandon the abduction of 31 hostages after troops responded to a distress call.
Kaduna has continued to record attacks on churches and frequent abductions.
Similar attacks on churches have sparked allegations of the persecution of Christians by U.S. President Donald Trump and some American lawmakers, which the Nigerian government has rejected.
