…weeks after Christian mobs murdered 12 Muslim travelers in Plateau
Killings were premeditated – JNI
At least 15 Muslims were brutally killed during congregational prayers in Sokoto State on Tuesday, July 1, in what appears to be a coordinated attack by suspected members of the Lakurawa group, further fueling fears of growing Islamophobic violence across Nigeria.
According to Daily Trust, the assailants stormed Kwalajiya village in Tangaza Local Government Area around 2:00 p.m. and opened fire on worshippers during Zuhr (afternoon) prayer, leaving 15 dead and several others injured.
“We were in the mosque when they invaded in large numbers,” said a local leader who spoke anonymously. “They opened fire indiscriminately, targeting both worshippers and villagers working on their farms.”
Sources suggest the attack may have been triggered by the death of three Lakurawa members, including a suspected leader, during a previously failed assault on the community.
Another resident said the violence was also linked to community resistance to the group’s activities: “Our village leader had recently warned against marrying Lakurawa members. That angered them.”
The attackers also burned farmlands, torched homes, and destroyed the community’s telecoms mast, cutting off all mobile access. “They didn’t harm the women but killed our men and destroyed all food items and shops,” a resident added.
1. At least 15 Muslims were brutally murdered in cold blood while others were injured in Sokoto on Thurs, July 3. They were simply observing Salat, unarmed! Yet, some terrorists invaded the mosque & attacked the worshippers! This should have been a major national headline. Thread pic.twitter.com/Y0bdbhJt1g
— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) July 5, 2025
The Sokoto Police Command confirmed the attack, stating that the number of casualties was still being verified. However, local sources say 15 people were buried on Wednesday, with seven others hospitalized for gunshot wounds.
Plateau attack on Muslim wedding guests
Muslim News gathered that the Sokoto massacre came just few weeks after a deadly ambush in Plateau State where 12 Muslims from Zaria were killed en route to a wedding in Qua’an Pan LGA.
On Friday, June 20, a group of 31 travelers in an 18-seater ABU Zaria bus was attacked near Mangu LGA. “We asked for directions after missing our way, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by a mob shouting we should be killed,” said Ibrahim Umar, a survivor.
The mob beat the travelers, killed the driver, and set the bus ablaze with corpses inside, leaving several others critically injured.
Attacks, killings were premeditated – JNI
Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III expressed angst over the high rate of abductions, killings, ethnic violence in the country.
The group in a statement signed by the Secretary-General, Professor Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, called for decisive action over “the Plateau Christian Mobs’ attack on unsuspecting Muslim wedding guests in Plateau State and other security threats in Nigeria”.
JNI wondered why perpetrators of Plateau wedding guests’ killings and others in the past had not been prosecuted and punished, despite repeated assurances by both the federal and state governments.
It also said Nigerians were getting restive and losing confidence in the ability of government at all levels to protect them.
‘’It then means that the whole action was consciously executed. No wonder that in the same Mangu, a Jumu’ah, Friday mosque, was demolished and the premises turned to a market space. The case of some intolerant people preventing the rebuilding of the Central Mosque in Langtang North destroyed over two decades ago, is another case in point.
‘’It should be noted that before and after the grotesque slaying of Muslims in Plateau State, no serious punitive measures were taken against perpetrators over the years by the Plateau State Government.
Therefore, the JNI wishes to unequivocally state that human life is everlastingly sacrosanct.
‘’The diabolical act of the Plateau Christian killer squads remains savage and cruel, by all standards.
Government at all levels must act and go beyond the rhetoric, mere condemnation and setting up of committees, without arresting the culprits.
“As the conventional (albeit ceremonial) condemnations are issued by Plateau State Government and the federal authorities, this is not enough deterrence in checking the excesses of the rampaging murderers.
“Condemnations alone can never stop these repeated madness, hence a decisive action by governments must be seen to be done swiftly. Justice delayed is justice denied. It is also disheartening that till this moment, the Plateau State government is yet to visit the government of Kaduna State and the deceased victim’s families.
‘’When the Uromi killing happened, we saw the promptness, with which the governor of Edo State travelled to Kano State, calmed frayed nerves and assured Kano State Government of all necessary reprimands. What then is holding back the Plateau State government?
“In fact, where in the world can this gruesome murder be perpetrated without attracting the attention of conscious humanity? Has any Plateau citizen(s) ever been so dehumanised in other states of the federation? Aren’t they thinking that their uncivil, bestial demeanour could lead to reprisals?
‘’The gory pictures and narratives of the survivors from the repeated attacks are so mind-boggling! Moreover, are Nigerians not beginning to make mockery of themselves in the comity of nations?
‘’Starting from 1994, 1995 and 1997, cycles of conflicts have erupted on the Plateau due to the intolerant and divisive tendencies of the Plateau Christian bigots. In the same Mangu Local Government Area, sometimes in 2001 over 300 lives were lost due to well-coordinated killings by Christian chauvinists.
‘’The infamous Quan Pan, Yelwan Shendam and Kuru Genta massacre of the Muslims cannot be easily forgotten. From 2022 to 2023, over 500 people were killed in Bassa, Jos North and Shendam local government councils, as well as Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas. This is just to mention but a few,” he added.
Ondo masquerade’s attack on Mosque and Imam’s family
In another incident of targeted aggression, traditional masqueraders invaded a mosque and the residence of a Chief Imam in Oke Agbe Akoko, Ondo State, on Thursday, June 12.
According to eyewitnesses, the assailants assaulted the Imam’s wives and children. The Islamic rights group, MURIC, strongly condemned the incident, calling it “barbaric” and questioning the Ondo Police for failing to arrest the perpetrators.
“To add salt to injury, the king of the town fined the Muslim victims because the women screamed during the beating instead of begging,” MURIC’s Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, said in a July 3 statement.
MURIC contrasted the Ondo case with the swift arrests of masqueraders in Enugu, where three men were immediately detained and remanded for a similar assault on June 22.
Assaults on Hijabi and Niqabi Women in Lagos and Oyo
The Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative (HRAI) also condemned recent attacks on Muslim women in Lagos and Oyo States.
In Ibadan, a pregnant Muslim woman was beaten and stripped of her niqab in a public market. In Ijora, Lagos, a 40-year-old asthmatic woman was assaulted by a naval officer who demanded she remove her veil. Despite being offered a female companion for verification, the officer and his accomplices beat and stripped her.
“One of the suspects has been remanded, but the naval officer, known only as Akin, is still at large,” said HRAI’s Executive Director, Barr. Mutiat Orolu-Balogun. “These are discriminatory hate crimes that must not go unpunished.”
HRAI’s Secretary, Hajia Shereefat Enessi, added: “If the government allows the assailants to go unpunished, it would be endorsing a culture of impunity and discrimination.”
These coordinated acts of violence and systemic impunity have sparked widespread concern among Nigerian Muslims, with rights groups demanding urgent action to prevent a dangerous slide into religious persecution and unrest.
Sponsored
