YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – A leading Nigerian priest has warned that if the military fails to stem the continued killing of Christians, an armed response might become imperative.

At least 50 people were murdered in Aondona, a village in central Nigeria, on Sunday.

“These are not only Christians but from the village of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi Diocese,” said Father Moses Aondover Iorapuu.

Iorapuu is the Vicar General Pastoral and Director of Communications of the diocese. He is also the parish priest of Holy Ghost Parish in Makurdi.

According to Father Humphrey Boyo of St. Patrick’s Taraku Parish, where many of those who escaped are now sheltered, the Aondona came under attack on Sunday evening. For two hours, over 150 Fulani jihadist herdsmen on motorbikes sprayed bullets indiscriminately on the villagers.

“It was during this attack that many people lost their lives to the hands of these evil men,” he told Crux.

“This barbaric act left many survivors devastated as both young and old were brutally murdered. Some of the women and men were taken to an unknown destination by the Fulanis while many children are still missing. Concerted efforts are in place to recover those still in the bushes,” Boyo said.

He said homes were razed, cars and motorcycles burned down, and the number of deaths is still not fully known.

He qualified the killings as a “religious war to conquer Christianity.”

“This jihad has been going on for a long time,” he noted.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has in a statement condemned the killings, saying that it grieves with the bereaved families in a “dark and difficult time.”

“We are deeply pained and alarmed by the continued loss of innocent lives and the growing climate of fear. These tragic events underscore the urgent need for decisive and sustained action to end the violence,” the statement reads. “Violence only breeds more hatred and deepens wounds that may take generations to heal.”

Iorapuu told Crux that the federal government can be held liable for the recent attack – like others in the past – given that the attack took place not far from a military post.

“The whole system is compromised, and the military is no exception. There can be killings taking place where there are military installations, and the victims do not receive protection, neither are the terrorists held accountable,” he told Crux.

“This is how close it can get to finger the federal government,” he added.

The Governor of Benue State, Catholic priest Father Hyacinth Alia, has however condemned attacks calling them “heinous.”

The statement said that “these barbaric criminals masquerading as herders whose actions reveal a blatant disregard for human life and the sanctity of our communities; their cowardice in attacking innocent individuals, especially, our innocent natives, will not be tolerated.”

While attacks on Christians in Nigeria are rampant, the attack on Aondona village bears a special significance. It is the village of the Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi Diocese, who notably testified in US Congress and the British Parliament about the killing of Christians in Nigeria, and Benue state in particular.

“This [testimony] drew threats from both some Islamic groups and the government,” Iorapuu said.

“It took support from the U.S. government for Bishop Anagbe to return to Nigeria without detention, but we suspected there would be an aftermath,” he added, insinuating the attack on that village could have been a way of punishing the bishop for speaking out.

Since 2009, Nigeria been a killing field for Christians when Boko Haram started its campaign to create a caliphate across the Sahel. In a 2023 report titled “Martyred Christians in Nigeria,” the Catholic-inspired NGO-International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety said at least 52,250 Nigerian Christians had been brutally murdered at the hands of Islamist militants in 14 years.

The recent killings only consolidate a trend that has been going on for decades. In the face of government inaction or complicity, there are now growing calls for Christians to start defending themselves.

The latest of such calls comes from Iorapuu who said taking up arms may eventually become an option.

“There will surely come a time when Christians will be up in arms, and that would lead to the robust strategy to defend their lives and their faith if the government does not act fast for a blow out of the persecution,” the priest told Crux.