Press Release
“Nigeria:
the ongoing ethno-religious cleansing against Christians”

10 April 2026

The Universal Christian Church of the New Jerusalem strongly condemns the ongoing massacres targeting Christians in Benue State, Nigeria.

On 7 April, approximately twenty Fulani jihadist militants stormed the village of Imande in Guma County during the night, massacring a devout Catholic woman and her three children, and spreading terror and panic among the defenceless villagers. Furthermore, on Easter Sunday, Fulani militants killed a young Christian man responsible for community defence in Ikpayongo, Gwer East County. These atrocities follow the Easter Eve massacre in Mbalom, also in Gwer East County, in which seventeen Christians were brutally slaughtered.

The systematic nature of these attacks reveals a deliberate campaign of ethno-religious cleansing aimed at terrorising and decimating the Christian population with the objective of establishing Islamic caliphates in the heart of Nigeria.

The Mother Church embraces her children with boundless love, raises her prayers to God, the God of Justice, and urgently calls upon the international community to acknowledge this tragedy for what it is: an ongoing genocide that demands decisive and immediate action.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Mt 5:10)