Nigerian Pastor Mourns Mass-Killing Victims as Attacks Continue in Plateau State

Weary and visibly shaken, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo sat beside a mass grave on Friday, September 25, as he prepared to bury three members of his community. Within the following 24 hours, nine more people would reportedly be killed in separate attacks across the area.

Dachomo, the Nigerian pastor featured in a viral mass-burial video shared by U.S. President Donald Trump, was once again mourning members of his congregation killed in attacks attributed by local sources to armed Fulani militants.

The violence marked what local leaders described as the fifth terrorist attack in the region within a single week.

At roughly the same time as the Gassa burial, two additional bodies were reportedly discovered on farms about 10 miles away. Five miles from there, another pastor was being buried near the location where he was killed the previous Sunday, September 20. Two other Christians were reportedly shot dead in the same village later that night, followed by another five deaths in a nearby community the next morning.

Pastor Thanks Trump for Addressing Christian Persecution

The latest violence occurred only days after Dachomo praised Donald Trump for publicly addressing the persecution of Christians around the world.

During the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Trump said Christian communities were facing persecution in various parts of the world and argued that the international community was failing to adequately address the problem.

Speaking from the burial site on Friday, Dachomo thanked Trump for drawing attention to violence against Christians in Nigeria.

“President Trump, thank you for advocating for us in Nigeria — the most persecuted church in the world. Thank you for advocating for us at the United Nations Assembly.”

Dachomo said he had watched Trump's address while praying for him, unaware that members of his own community would soon become victims of another attack.

Three Killed in Plateau State Village Attacks

Globalvoice reported that armed attackers raided two Christian communities approximately 15 to 20 miles south of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, at around 10:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, September 24.

Solomon Dalyop, a community leader from the Berom ethnic group, said armed Fulani-speaking militants targeted civilian-watch posts in Chit and Gassa villages in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.

According to Dalyop, local guards in Chit resisted the attackers using homemade pipe guns. He said the guards fired repeatedly from behind trees and brick walls, creating the impression that they had a larger defensive force.

The situation was different in Gassa.

“Last night, they came again and they succeeded in killing three of our brothers,” Dalyop said during the mass burial.

Dalyop said earlier attacks had killed at least 50 people in the region during September. Among the reported victims was a pastor who was killed alongside a church employee while traveling to church on Sunday, September 20.

The pastor was buried Friday in his hometown of Mararabar Kantoma in Mangu Local Government Area, on the same day the three victims from Gassa were buried.

More Attacks Reported as Funerals Continue

Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang condemned the attacks and said security agencies were taking steps to identify those responsible and prevent further violence.

However, local leaders told Globalvoice that additional killings occurred as the funerals were taking place.

Two people were reportedly killed in separate attacks near the border between Barkin Ladi and Jos East Local Government Areas.

The attacks occurred in Rubung and Federe villages. Local leader Jerry Datim told Globalvoice that armed attackers entered the victims' homes shortly after 10 p.m. and shot them with assault rifles.

As relatives transported the victims' bodies to a mortuary the following morning, another attack was reportedly underway approximately five miles away.

Five More Killed in Attack on Artisanal Miners

The Saturday morning attack, which occurred at about 11 a.m. local time, reportedly targeted artisanal miners in Lajam, one of several communities collectively known as Marit.

Globalvoice reported that five people were killed.

Patience Sandah, a liaison officer to Governor Caleb Mutfwang in Barkin Ladi, told Globalvoice that one of the victims was a newly enlisted Nigerian Army soldier who had recently returned to his home village to visit his family.

The successive attacks have left communities across Plateau State facing repeated funerals while residents continue to demand greater protection from armed groups.

For Dachomo and other church leaders in the affected communities, the killings have turned the question of security into an immediate struggle to protect congregations, families and villages from further attacks.