{"id":1048,"date":"2026-04-06T23:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T23:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/?page_id=1048"},"modified":"2026-04-06T23:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T23:55:13","slug":"massacre-na-pascoa-em-benue-na-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/?page_id=1048","title":{"rendered":"Easter massacre in Benue, Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/upload\/1\/sites\/26\/img_41909_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:100%\"><figcaption>Bodies Recovered after Mbalom attack. Credit: Mbalom Civil Protection Volunteers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><hr><\/p><p>\r\n\t<a href='http:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\"s=nigeria'>#Nigeria<\/a><\/p><p><\/p><p>\r\n\t<!-- audio --><\/p><p>\r\n<button onclick=\"this.nextElementSibling.play()\" style=\"padding:12px 25px; font-size:18px; border:none; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\">Listen<\/button><audio src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/audios\/41909-eng.mp3\" preload=\"none\"><\/audio><\/p><p>\r\n\t<strong>Last Saturday, April 4, 2026, while residents of the village of Mbalom, in Benue State, central Nigeria, were preparing for the Easter vigil-one of the most important moments for Christians-a violent attack shattered the tranquility<\/strong><\/p><p> A group of armed Fulani militiamen invaded the predominantly Christian community, killing at least 17 people, according to reports from residents and eyewitnesses.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nThe action was sudden and well-organized.<\/p><p>\r\nAround 7 pm, about 50 men arrived on approximately 25 motorcycles, shouting &#8220;Allahu Akbar,&#8221; shooting indiscriminately and setting houses on fire.<\/p><p>\r\nTerrified residents ran into the bush for protection.<\/p><p>\r\nMany were unable to escape.<\/p><p>\r\nEntire families were caught off guard while preparing for the religious celebration.<\/p><p>\r\nOne resident recounted losing her brother and two neighbors, and that no one came to help during the attack.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nResidents of the region had been warning authorities about the presence of armed men in nearby areas for weeks, but no preventative measures were taken.<\/p><p>\r\nA community leader lamented that the village lives under constant threat and that many people had already fled for fear of further attacks.<\/p><p>\r\nLocal authorities confirmed the incident but reported a lower number of victims: nine bodies have been recovered so far.<\/p><p>\r\nPolice said they sent security forces to the area and that the situation was under control, although no arrests have yet been made.<\/p><p>\r\nThe governor of Benue State, Reverend Hyacinth Alia, condemned the act as &#8220;barbaric and unacceptable,&#8221; expressed solidarity with the victims&#8217; families, and promised to reinforce security in the region.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nUnfortunately, this is not an isolated case.<\/p><p>\r\nIn 2018, the same community of Mbalom suffered a similar attack during a mass, when two priests and 17 parishioners were murdered.<\/p><p>\r\nViolence against rural Christian communities in Benue State, known as Nigeria&#8217;s &#8220;breadbasket,&#8221; has been a recurring theme for years, especially in areas with little police presence.<\/p><p>\r\nMany attribute these attacks to Fulani militias, which, according to monitoring organizations, are behind thousands of deaths in different parts of the country in recent years.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nFor the inhabitants of Mbalom, this year&#8217;s Easter-which should be a time of hope and renewal-has turned into days of mourning and fear.<\/p><p>\r\nThis episode once again exposes the security difficulties in rural Nigeria and the sense of abandonment felt by many communities that have long been pleading for protection.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">??<br>Easter massacre in Benue, Nigeria<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Nigeria'src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Nigeria<\/a><br><br>Last Saturday, April 4, 2026, while residents of the village of Mbalom, in Benue State, central Nigeria, were preparing for the Easter vigil-one of the most important moments for Christians-a violent attack shattered the tranquility: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l2DkgeZ4W7\">pic.twitter.com\/l2DkgeZ4W7<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Israel is Real?????? (@IIsraelisReal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IIsraelisReal\/status\/2041301444951757123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 6, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>Published in 04\/06\/2026 23h55<\/em><\/p>\r\n<hr>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/?page_id=3331\">Portuguese version<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n\t\t<p>Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<hr>\r\n\t\t<p>Reference article:<\/p>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/truthnigeria.com\/2026\/04\/easter-massacre-in-benue-state-as-jihadists-kill-17-in-new-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/truthnigeria.com\/2026\/04\/easter-massacre-in-benue-state-as-jihadists-kill-17-in-new-attack\/<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position: buttonline;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/rodape_sites.php?arg=41909\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"420px\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"position: buttonline;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/comentario_navegacao.php?arg=41909\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"500px\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"position:absolute; width:40%; height:70px; top:-70px; left:0px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/oferta_site_esq.php?arg=41909\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"100%\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"position:absolute; width:40%; height:70px; top:-70px; right:0px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/oferta_site_dir.php?arg=41909\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"100%;\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vendedoradesonhos.com.br\/oferta_site_centralus.php\" width=\"100%\" height=\"330\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><figcaption>{teste}<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><hr>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":47,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1048","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1048\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iustitia.com.br\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}