Nigeria: Twenty Christians Massacred in Armed Attack in Central Region

A new armed attack targeted a Christian community in central Nigeria, leaving twenty civilians dead. Anti-Christian violence in Nigeria's Middle Belt shows no signs of abating.

The Fact

A new armed attack targeted a Christian community in central Nigeria, leaving twenty civilians dead (Infovaticana, 26 June 2026). Plateau State and the Middle Belt areas remain the recurring scene of intercommunal violence in which Christians pay the heaviest toll. The suspected attackers belong to armed groups whose nature—organized crime, radicalization, land issues—is often intertwined. Twenty dead. Another grieving community.

Our Perspective

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and Open Doors have been documenting the rise of this violence in Nigeria for years, the most Christian country in sub-Saharan Africa by number of believers. Nigeria consistently ranks in the top 10 of Open Doors' World Watch List. These recurring massacres barely make a sound in the West, even though they constitute one of the deadliest anti-Christian persecutions in the world. Each number—here, twenty—represents a face, a family, a decimated community. The universal Church cannot ignore the suffering of the Church in Nigeria.

To Ponder

Supporting ACN and Open Doors, informing local communities about this reality, praying for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria: these are all acts of concrete communion with the suffering Church.