A US-based humanitarian organization, Equipping The Persecuted, has raised an alarm over a potential terrorist attack targeting Christian communities in Northern Nigeria on Christmas Day.
The group claims that Al Shabab-linked groups, possibly with tied to ISWAP, are gathering forces around the Plateau-Nasarawa border and the Nasarawa-Kaduns border.
The warning was issued on Wednesday in Washington DC, during a round-table International Committee on Nigeria and the African Jewish Alliance.
Speaking at the event, the organisation’s founder, Judd Saul, urged President Bola Tinubu and United States President Donald Trump to take urgent action to prevent the alleged attacks.
According to Saul, the terrorists are reportedly mobilizing along strategic borders linking Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue and Kaduna States, with plans to strike on Christmas Day.
“They are gathering forces along the Plateau-Nasarawa border, the Nasarawa-Benue border and the Nasarawa-Kaduna border.
“They are planning to hit on Christmas Day in Riyom and Bokkos in plateau”, he said.
The Department of State Services, (DSS) has confirmed receipt of the intelligence and is taking preventive measures.
However, the Nigerian Presidency has dismissed the alert, cautioning it could heighten fear and insecurity.
Riyom Local Government Area in Plateau State located in North Central Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by Berom ethnic group, has a long history of violent attacks and communal killings.
In July 2012, more than 300 people were reportedly killed in coordinated attacks on communities in Riyom and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas, allegedly by armed herdsmen.
Also in July 8, 2012, during the mass burial of 63 victims in Matse village, gunmen attacked mourners, killing over 100 people, including Senator Gyang Dalyop Dantong, who represented Plateau North in the National Assembly at that time.
-9News Nigeria.
