In mid-April, Christians in Nigeria once again fell victim to violent attacks. Between April 12 and 19, 2024, approximately 50 armed Islamist pastoralists from the Fulani ethnic group invaded four Christian villages in Plateau State, murdering 25 people and injuring many more, some critically. Around 3,000 people fled. A previous wave of attacks occurred around Christmas, in which nearly 300 people succumbed to their injuries; another attack at Easter claimed the lives of ten more Christians.

Local security forces did not intervene in the latest attacks. According to the British organisation Release International, Christian students protested for protection from such attacks. However, the Nigerian military violently ended the demonstration by firing on the protesters.

According to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), based in Onitsha, Nigeria, at least 8,222 defenseless Christians were killed in the 13-month period from January 2023 to January 2024. The report, published in the first quarter of 2024, accuses the government and Nigerian security forces of turning a blind eye to these atrocities. Among the 150,000 victims of religiously motivated violence, the report states that approximately 100,000 were Christians, about 46,000 were moderate Muslims, and another 4,000 were defenseless civilians belonging to other religious groups. The report concludes that the systematic killing of Christians in Nigeria amounts to a “silent genocide” due to a lack of international attention.