Muslim deliberately drives 18-wheeler into Easter Parade and kills 6 in Nigeria

 

A government-appointed committee determined that the driver of an 18-wheel truck that plowed into an Easter parade on Sunday, April 21, in the town of Billiri, Gombe state, Nigeria, intentionally struck the Christians as they celebrated Christ’s resurrection. 

The committee also found that of the 36 people involved in the attack, six died and 18 remain in critical condition. Those killed because of the crash include Grace David, Clement Lakason, Ephraim Ibrahim, Faida P. Uslas, Rejoice Mela, and Praise Ayuba. 

“Our investigation revealed that the driver’s actions were deliberate,” said Rambi Ayala, committee chair and member of the Gombe State House of Assembly. “He rammed into the last batch of worshippers during their procession, causing multiple deaths and injuries.” 

Competing Narratives 

According to early police reports, the driver experienced a brake failure and couldn’t stop the vehicle before the fatal crash. Many local Christians, however, quickly claimed that the crash was intentional and the local government, which includes Muslim leadership, was acting in a discriminatory manner toward Christians.  

“There are a lot of lies … surrounding the incident on Easter Monday ...” the Gombe South Emancipation Forum (GSEF), a group of local Christians and Christian leaders, said in a press release. 

For nearly 30 years, Christians in Billiri have celebrated Easter with a procession of singing and dancing to commemorate Jesus's resurrection. 

In its release, the GSEF added that it “interviewed several eyewitnesses, medical personnel, community leaders, security officers, and some of the victims themselves.” The organization explained that other vehicles had passed slowly through the crowd that morning, and the driver of the truck, who is believed to be Muslim, was warned to do the same. 

“An 18-wheeler truck (trailer) came running towards the direction of the … group of … Christians who had now reached the ‘Tashan Gona’ junction,” the statement said. “Some individuals quickly waved to the driver and told him to slow down and to honk his horn when he gets close to the group so they can give him [a] way to pass. The driver slowed down as he listened to them. He was moving at around 10-15 kilometers per hour. But as soon as he saw the crowd ahead of him, he increased his speed and ran into the group from behind them without ever honking his horn. He mowed [down] several people, killing five, and injuring several others.” 

Video of the crash shows the truck driving into the crowd, and no distinguishable sounds of a horn honking to warn the attendees can be heard. 

Hannatu David Titu lost her daughter, 23-year-old Grace David, who was killed in the incident. Though Titu wasn't in attendance at the procession, she stated through tears that she believed the incident “was a deliberate attack.”  

Additionally, Abishag Sambo, an attorney who helps Christians in Nigeria, told International Christian Concern (ICC) that, in her opinion, “there was no brake failure.” Sambo explained that she thinks it’s possible that local authorities were attempting to cover up an act of persecution.  

“There is no neutrality in this situation,” Sambo stated. “We know how they operate. The system is wicked.” 

Dr. Jeremiah Gado, former president (2012-2018) of the ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) and current board chair of the CSW Nigeria board of trustees, told ICC that his neighbors were killed in the incident. Gado was in Billiri at the time of the incident, but was not a part of the procession. 

“Other vehicles came and passed by, but this vehicle came and just ran over the people in the procession,” Gado stated. “[The incident is] part of a deliberate persecution of Christians.” 

A Neglected Health Care System 

The investigative committee also called on government officials to upgrade the state’s emergency medical infrastructure. Some have claimed that victims of the crash likely could have been saved if a functional hospital existed in the area.  

Gado told ICC the hospital in Gombe state is in "a deliberate act of neglect” because influential Muslims don’t want to provide adequate medical facilities for the local Christian population. 

The alleged withholding of adequate services compounds the immense pain Nigerian Christians in Gombe and elsewhere have experienced in recent years as they’ve endured ongoing murder, rape, and kidnappings at the hands of Islamic extremist groups.  

According to Genocide Watch, “since 2000, 62,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered in genocide perpetrated by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Muslims increase terrorist attacks in Nigeria in 2025

 

Since January, International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented a dramatic rise in attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. In just over three months, more than 300 Christians have been killed, dozens abducted, and thousands displaced in a wave of organized violence that has swept across Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Ebonyi states. 

One of the most devastating attacks occurred on Palm Sunday, April 13, in Zike village, Plateau state, where at least 56 people, including 15 children, were killed and 103 homes were burned.

Days earlier, militants launched simultaneous attacks on 15 villages in Bokkos LGA, leaving 56 dead, 28 injured, and displacing more than 5,000 people. Another 72 people were killed in an attack that occurred around April 18 in Ukum and Logo LGAs, Benue state.

“These are not isolated incidents,” ICC’s Africa Regional Director said. “This is part of a sustained and growing pattern of religiously motivated violence, where Christian communities are deliberately targeted and devastated.” 

Other notable incidents reported by ICC in 2025 include: 

• Clergy abductions and killings in Edo, Kaduna, and Plateau states 

• More than 230 homes burned or destroyed 

• At least 10 churches damaged or razed — many during Sunday services or overnight attacks 

• At least 15 farms destroyed or seized, threatening food security and livelihoods for displaced Christian families 

The perpetrators are often identified as Islamic Fulani militants operating with impunity. ICC field partners report that many attacks are premeditated, targeting Christians during worship or in their homes at night. 

Despite two decades of ongoing persecution, 2025 marks one of the most violent years in recent memory. Nigerian authorities have yet to deliver adequate protection or justice, and many survivors report being left without shelter, security, or basic support. 

ICC continues to document these attacks, respond with emergency aid, and call for stronger international pressure to protect Nigeria’s Christian population.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

54 Christians killed during Palm Sunday service in Nigeria

 

Following Palm Sunday celebrations on April 13, Islamic Fulani extremists slaughtered at least 54 Christians in the village of Zikke near Jos, Plateau state. Local leaders are calling the attack “a targeted act of genocide against the Christian community.” 

Eyewitnesses said the attack lasted more than an hour, leaving 103 households destroyed and the entire village displaced. Frustration mounted as residents reported a delayed military response and accused security forces of bias, disarming local Christian youth but not Fulani attackers. 

The Rev. Hezekiah Mukan officiated the mass burial of 51 Christians on April 14. Mukan, also chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria, consoled locals reading from 1 Thessalonians 4:13, calling on everyone to remember their hope in Christ as they mourned the dead. The three other known victims received separate Christian burials.

Pastor Ishaku Mathew Kure, a local Baptist pastor, lost 10 members of his congregation and described seeing the attackers, some speaking both English and Fulani, using phrases like “Kill” and “Let’s go.” The pastor, who narrowly escaped with his family, called the violence “genocide” and questioned the government’s failure to disarm Fulani militias while locals remain defenseless. 

Amnesty International condemned the massacre, which left elderly people and children butchered in their homes. “The inexcusable security lapses must be investigated,” Amnesty stated, adding that mere statements of condemnation are insufficient without justice and accountability. 

From December 2023 to February 2024, more than 1,300 people were killed in Plateau state alone, including more than 500 women and 260 children. Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced. The frequency and pattern of the attacks have led to growing fears of an orchestrated campaign to forcibly displace Christian communities and seize their ancestral lands. 

Eli Bako, a state lawmaker representing the affected area, called the attack “evil” and pleaded with the international community for urgent intervention. “One day, we will have no people left in our constituency,” he warned, criticizing the selective disarmament of vulnerable villagers. 

Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang condemned the attacks as “coordinated acts of terror” aimed at ethnic cleansing. In a state broadcast on April 14, he stated, “What we are witnessing is not mere herder-farmer clashes, but a calculated campaign of genocide.” 

He pledged full support for the victims, announcing free medical treatment for the wounded, deployment of more troops, and provision of emergency relief supplies. The governor also met with top federal security officials, including Nigeria’s president and the chief of defense staff, to demand urgent intervention. 

Despite these measures, confidence in Nigeria’s ability to protect its Christian communities continues to erode. As international organizations monitor the situation, urgent calls for justice, protection, and humanitarian aid are rising.  

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Christian missionary rescued in South Africa

 

Following an intense gun battle, South African police have rescued U.S. missionary and pastor Josh Sullivan from his kidnappers.

His rescue comes less than a week after masked armed men took him hostage at gunpoint as he preached a sermon last Thursday at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.

According to a statement from the South African Police Service, officers pursued the pastor after receiving intelligence on his whereabouts in another local township. Three suspects died in the ensuing shootout.

Sullivan, a 45-year-old church-planting missionary from Tennessee, was with the gunmen when the shootout began.

“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” the police statement said. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”

According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last Thursday night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church.  

Sullivan, a husband and father of six, has been a missionary in South Africa since 2018. Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff. His wife and children are among those who witnessed the kidnapping.  

While some reports suggested the kidnapping may have been financially motivated, the attackers targeted the preacher and were well aware of his vocation. The gunmen reportedly knew Sullivan by name. The church also faced threats of being burned down at the end of 2024. 

Sullivan and his wife planted Fellowship Baptist Church on Aug. 1, 2021, to provide a church for the Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Christian missionary abducted in South Africa

 

Josh Sullivan, a U.S. Baptist missionary, was kidnapped at gunpoint as he preached Thursday evening at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa.  

According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church.  

Sullivan, a husband and father of six, has been a missionary in South Africa since 2018. Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff. His wife and children are among those who witnessed the kidnapping.  

While some reports suggest the kidnapping may have been financially motivated, the attackers targeted the preacher and were well aware of his vocation. The gunmen reportedly knew Sullivan by name. The church also faced threats of being burned down at the end of 2024. 

The South African Police Service’s Anti-Gang Unit is investigating the kidnapping. The U.S. Embassy in South Africa is also aware of the situation and is monitoring developments. 

Sullivan and his wife planted Fellowship Baptist Church on Aug. 1, 2021, with the mission to provide a church for the Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa. According to a recent post on the Sullivans’ blog, only five churches that preach in the Xhosa language exist for the nearly 10 million Xhosa-speaking people in South Africa. 

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Myanmar military is bombing earthquake victims

 

Multiple reports from around Myanmar indicate that the military junta ruling the country bombed civilians as they scrambled to recover from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the country Friday.

Military planes bombed northern Shan state less than three hours after the earthquake, according to reports, with more strikes following soon after in Karen State, the quake’s epicenter Sagaing, and in areas close to the Thai border.

In contrast, the National Unity Government—which opposes the junta—announced that its militia forces would immediately begin a two-week pause in areas impacted by the earthquake to facilitate humanitarian activities.

The fact that the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, would bomb civilians while they were working to rescue each other from the rubble of an earthquake, is “nothing short of incredible,” Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, told the BBC.

“Anyone who has influence on the [Tatmadaw],” he said, “needs to step up the pressure and make it very clear that this is not acceptable."

China and Russia, longtime allies of the Tatmadaw, have helped to provide emergency relief services in the wake of the earthquake but have not commented on the bombings. Despite sweeping international sanctions, both countries have supplied consistent military and economic support for the Tatmadaw.

The United States recently cut back on assistance and development aid to Myanmar as part of broader cuts to international aid. Reports indicate that it has not matched China and Russia’s emergency relief assistance since the earthquake. Last week, though, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report criticizing the country for its systematic repression of religious minorities and urged the international community to increase attention to the plight of the persecuted in Myanmar.

Ongoing Displacement and the Plight of Religious Minorities

“The country has seen the displacement of over 3.5 million people in recent years,” the USCIRF report noted, “including more than 90,000 in Christian-majority Chin State, 237,200 in Kachin State, and one million Muslim-majority Rohingya refugees” Last week’s earthquake, and the airstrikes that followed, have only increased these high levels of displacement.

Though a strong majority of the population is ethnic Burman and an even greater percentage is Buddhist, the communities that make up the remainder are well-established, well-organized, and, for the most part, predate the formation of the modern state by centuries.

In many cases, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have also taken on a distinct religious identity. About 20-30% of ethnic Karen are Christians, while other groups, such as the Chin, are over 90% Christian. This overlap of ethnic and religious identity has created a volatile situation for believers.

Historical Violence Against Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Representing an extremist interpretation of Buddhism, the Burmese military has a long history of violence against the people of Myanmar, including against ethnic and religious minorities like the Muslim-majority Rohingya and Christian-majority Chin.

The junta is known to abduct children, forcing them to walk ahead of their troops through minefields. In many cases, their victims are members of ethnic and religious minority communities fighting back against the atrocities of a military that has waged a decades-long war of ethnic and religious cleansing.

Despite this support, experts believe that the Burmese military is atrophying rapidly, with as few as 150,000 personnel remaining after the loss of about 21,000 through casualties or desertions since the 2021 coup. This number is significantly smaller than previous estimates of 300,000-400,000 and calls into question the junta’s ability to sustain its nationwide military campaign, especially after a series of high-profile losses in recent years.” 

How ICC Is Responding to the Crisis

Less than two weeks before the devastating earthquake, an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer visited the country to address conditions for local Christians and foreign workers amid the ongoing instability. While the findings painted a grim picture of widespread displacement, corruption, and strained infrastructure, what stood out was the resilience of the church and its believers, who remain steadfast in their faith despite the mounting challenges. 

"I've contacted friends and local contacts to check on them since the earthquakes. They've talked about the huge devastation in Mandalay, with recovery efforts slowly working through the rubble and damage," said an ICC staffer in Southeast Asia. "The impact is huge across the country, too. Those I've contacted asked for continual prayers for local teams helping with recovery and for their country. Given their plight, one local pastor even selflessly asked if I had prayer requests myself. This shows the strong faith of the believers despite the obstacles. I've also contacted different Christian friends and contacts in Thailand to see how we can pray and help by God's grace." 

ICC will continue to monitor the situation and explore ways to support recovery efforts.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Nigerian government delays release of illegally detained children

 

As last Wednesday approached, Professor Solomon Tarfa eagerly anticipated the release of 16 children taken five years ago from Du Merci orphanage, which he and his wife run. Nigerian authorities have illegally detained the children since they were removed from the orphanage.

Despite a court settlement mandating the Kano State Ministry of Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs to release the children on March 19, Tarfa remains empty-handed following what seems to be another government stall tactic.

The Commissioner for Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs announced on March 20 that the children’s release will be postponed “until the Attorney General of Kano State returns from Mecca in two weeks.” Tarfa has been in a legal battle with government officials since the children were removed from the couple’s orphanage in December 2019.

This latest setback is one of many Tarfa has faced in his legal battle. It took a miracle for this agreement to have been made in court. A judge from the Kano State High Court 12 initially said he had “too many cases to deal with that are more important,” refusing to grant Tarfa and the children a trial. He urged the parties to settle outside of court, issuing a deadline of June 4, 2024, to “get back to him.”

Professor Tarfa and his wife, Mercy, founded Du Merci Orphanage in 1996. For more than two decades, the couple rescued abandoned children with the mission “to glorify God by ministering to orphans and vulnerable children by meeting their mental, physical, spiritual, and social needs.”

Nigerian officials raided the Christian orphanage on Christmas Day in 2019. Police officers and authorities from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) confiscated 29 children — 13 were later returned — and moved them to government-run facilities. Professor Tarfa was detained and imprisoned on alleged charges of kidnapping and abduction.

While in government custody, authorities split the children up, including siblings, and forced them to recite Arabic, study Islam, and attend prayers in a mosque. Since the children had Christian names, authorities gave them Muslim names.

In June 2021, Tarfa went before the Kano High Court and was acquitted of his kidnapping and abduction charges. However, a day before the trial was set to end, the prosecution presented forgery charges in connection with Du Merci’s official registration document.

Although Tarfa received the registration document from the government, the prosecution accused his document of being fake as it did not have a proper serial number. Professor Tarfa was found guilty and remained in prison.

In April 2022, Tarfa appealed the forged document ruling, and almost a year later, the Court of Appeals acquitted Tarfa of all charges.

Today, Tarfa wants the Nigerian government to be held accountable and return the remaining children. He has asked Kano state to pay reparations for his illegal imprisonment, false accusations, and the illegal confiscation of his children.

The reparations would also cover the costs of rebuilding Du Merci Orphanage, which was demolished by the government. They also would cover the cost of rent for Professor Tarfa, his wife, and the released children, who had to relocate to an apartment.  The government has refused to pay Tarfa for its wrongdoings, escalating the situation before the High Court 12 in Kano state.

International Christian Concern (ICC) calls for the remaining children wrongly detained by the Nigerian government to be released and continues to pray for them. We pray that Nigerian authorities will recognize their wrongdoings, release the children, and pay Tarfa and his wife the reparations they deserve.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.