Christians are being killed in Nigeria. Here's why you barely hear about it

Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo has led more than 70 mass burials in Plateau State, central Nigeria, by his own count. On 14 October 2025, a video showed him at a grave with at least 12 members of his church.

This week, a post about him passed 643,000 views. It says more than 3,000 of his church members are dead, that he has buried them in over 200 mass graves, and that more Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year than Gazans in three years of war. It adds that the media is silent.

We checked each claim. The killings are real. Parts of the post are not.

Who is Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo?

Dachomo is a pastor with the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Plateau State. He became known after videos of him at mass graves spread online. He told a TV interviewer in November 2025 that he had personally conducted over 70 mass burials. He described one attack where he says 501 people died in a single night.

Those are his own figures. We found no independent count of his burials.

In July 2026 he said nine of his relatives were killed because of his outspoken stance. The US State Department's Africa bureau sent condolences.

The post says 3,000 of his members are dead and over 200 burials. We found no source for either number. His own figure is 70.

Where does the 3,000 figure come from?

The closest match is a count for the whole country. A Nigerian rights group, Intersociety, says 3,083 Christians were killed across Nigeria from January to August 2026. It also counts 3,193 abducted.

That is the entire nation over eight months, not one church. Intersociety is an advocacy group and does not fully explain how it counts. Its own mid-year report also lists 1,050 Muslims killed in the first six months.

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Another count comes from the Christian charity Open Doors. Its 2026 World Watch List says 3,490 Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria between October 2024 and September 2025. That is about 7 out of every 10 such killings worldwide.

Photo: Yusufdavid / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Did more Christians die in Nigeria than Gazans in three years?

No. The numbers are far apart.

Gaza's health ministry put its toll at 74,389 on 13 October 2026, counting from 7 October 2023.

Divide 74,389 by 3,083 and you get about 24. Gaza's count is 24 times the highest Nigerian Christian count we found for this year. Against the Open Doors count it is about 21 times.

74,389.00Gaza, 3 years

3,490.00Nigeria Christians, 12 months (Open Doors)

3,083.00Nigeria Christians, 8 months of 2026 (Intersociety)

Gaza, 3 years	74,389.00
Nigeria Christians, 12 months (Open Doors)	3,490.00
Nigeria Christians, 8 months of 2026 (Intersociety)	3,083.00

Sources: Gaza Health Ministry via WAFA, 13 Oct 2026. Open Doors World Watch List 2026 (Oct 2024 to Sep 2025). Intersociety (Jan to Aug 2026). Counts use different methods and periods.

The real Nigerian toll is still grim. Amnesty counted at least 10,217 people killed in two years across seven states up to May 2025, with 2,630 in Plateau alone. It did not split them by religion.

Who is actually killing people in Nigeria?

The sources name specific armed groups, not a religion.

In the Middle Belt, including Plateau and Benue, the attackers are usually armed Fulani herder militias. In the north-east, the killers are Boko Haram and its offshoot ISWAP. In the north-west, armed gangs called bandits kidnap and kill for ransom, and a jihadist group called Lakurawa is also named.

Most Fulani herders are Muslim and many Middle Belt farmers are Christian. Researchers also point to a fight over grazing land and water, made worse by climate change and illegal mining.

Muslims die too. Nigeria's government says victims include Muslims, Christians and traditional worshippers.

That does not shrink what happened to Christian villages. In September 2026 at least 27 people were killed in about a week across four Plateau districts, according to local reports. A pastor was shot on his way to church. The governor imposed a curfew.

Is it a genocide, as some say?

People are split, and both sides have named backers.

President Donald Trump has said Christians in Nigeria face an "existential threat". The US put Nigeria on its list of "countries of particular concern" over religious freedom. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said America was preparing for action. On Christmas Day 2025, the US struck what it called Islamic State targets in Sokoto state. America's military said it acted at the request of Nigerian authorities.

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Nigeria's foreign ministry says there is no Christian genocide and that terrorists attack people of every faith. Nigerian analyst Bulama Bukarti called the claim false.

The monitoring group ACLED counted 1,923 attacks on civilians in the year to late 2025. It found 50 targeted Christians because of their religion. Its analyst said the violence is mostly not aimed at one faith, and that claims of 100,000 Christians killed since 2009 are not backed by the data.

Why does so little reach the news?

Coverage is thin, not zero. Al Jazeera, AFP and Nigerian outlets reported the Benue massacre at Yelwata in June 2025. Pope Leo spoke about it.

The deaths there show the problem. Nigeria's Benue government first gave 45. Later reports citing the state said 59. Amnesty counted at least 100. The Pope said about 200.

When four sources give four numbers for one night, newsrooms hesitate to run a headline. The villages are remote, the tolls come from police, state officials and rights groups who disagree, and the government rejects the religious label.

The biggest wave of attention came when Trump spoke. Nigeria's news cycle is busy with other crises too, including the first Ebola case confirmed in Abuja.

Photo: Gwanki / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Were the graves real?

Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi reportedly said coffins at a Plateau burial were empty. Dachomo challenged officials to open the graves. We found no record that anyone has. The federal government sent a peace envoy to Plateau in November 2025.

The claims, one by one

What can an ordinary person actually do?

The two faith charities most often named are Open Doors and Barnabas Aid. Open Doors says it is building a trauma care centre in Nigeria. Barnabas Aid says it gives food, shelter, school fees and house repairs to survivors in Plateau. Both describe their own work, so ask any charity how much of each rand reaches Nigeria before you give.

Churches in South Africa can also twin with a Nigerian congregation, so help goes to a named place.

And share the true number. The 3,000 that went around the world belongs to a whole country over eight months. It does not belong to one pastor's church. The real figure needs no help. By Intersociety's count, 3,083 Christians were killed across Nigeria in eight months, more than 12 a day. One pastor has stood at the edge of more than 70 mass graves. That is the number to pass on.