AS communities across Nigeria prepare for Christmas, a coalition of civil society organisations and human rights advocates has warned that the festive season has repeatedly been marked by deadly attacks in parts of the North, leaving thousands killed, while others have been displaced and traumatised over the past decade.
In a statement on Friday, December 19, jointly signed by the members, the coalition said attacks during Christmas celebrations since 2010 had left a trail of deaths, destroyed communities and forced thousands from their homes, particularly in Plateau, Kaduna, Benue and Kogi states.
The group recalled that the trend dates back to the Christmas Day bombings of Ungwan Rukuba and Gada Biyu in Jos, Plateau State, in 2010, and the 2011 attack on St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.
According to the group, these incidents marked the beginning of what it described as “grief-mapped mass displacement” linked to Christmas-related terror attacks in northern Nigeria and, more recently, the Middle Belt.
It cited several major incidents over the years, including the December 24, 2016 attack on Goska community in Jema’a Local Government Area of Southern Kaduna, where about 20 people were killed and hundreds fled.
The coalition also referenced the 2023 Christmas attacks in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi local government areas of Plateau State, where more than 212 people were reportedly killed and over 10,000 displaced.
According to the statement, violence during the 2024 Christmas period claimed the lives of about 46 worshippers in Anwase, Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, forcing an additional 6,800 people into displacement and swelling the number of displaced persons in the state to over 150,000.
The coalition further noted that insecurity had persisted into the current festive season, pointing to the abduction of 20 worshippers in an ECWA church in Ayetorokiri, Bunu-Kabba, Kogi State, in the days leading up to 2025 Christmas.
Describing the attacks as a dangerous intersection of faith-based insecurity and domestic terrorism, the coalition warned that the recurring pattern required urgent and coordinated action to prevent further atrocities and displacement.
Consequently, the group called on the Federal Government to immediately strengthen security around communities, churches and travel routes during the Yuletide period, while prioritising the protection and welfare of internally displaced persons and displaced communities across the Middle Belt and other parts of the country.
Among its demands, the coalition urged authorities to address the long-term challenges faced by displaced persons, including loss of livelihoods, lack of documentation and exposure to further violence, and to deploy emergency agencies to provide food, water, shelter and security during the festive season.
It also called for stronger collaboration between statutory security agencies and local vigilante groups to improve intelligence gathering and community policing, as well as proactive action on security reports to prevent future attacks.
The coalition specifically urged President Bola Tinubu to assent to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, also known as the Kampala Convention Domestication Bill, to ensure a coordinated, rights-based national response to displacement.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M