Truck ramming into Easter procession in Nigeria ruled intentional

Originally published in Morning Star News

Investigators have concluded that a trailer truck driver intentionally crashed into an Easter procession in Nigeria, killing six Christians, sources said.

More than 30 Christians were hospitalised when the truck on April 21 rammed an Easter Monday procession in Billiri, Gombe state, northeast Nigeria, officials said.

Police initially attempted to attribute the incident to brake failure, but a committee formed by Gombe state officials concluded that the driver deliberately ploughed into the procession. Witnesses reportedly said it neither slowed nor honked before slamming through the procession, then had no trouble coming to a halt.

The ad-hoc committee chairman, Rambi Ayala, told reporters that 18 of the injured were still receiving treatment at hospitals in Gombe. He identified the Christians killed as Grace David, Clement Lakason, Ephraim Ibrahim, Faida P. Uslas, Rejoice Mela and Praise Ayuba.

Andele Tadi and David Yohanna, two Billiri community leaders, said in a press statement that the 18-wheel trailer truck full of grain bore down on the Christians from behind at the Tashan Gona junction.

“As soon as the Muslim driver saw the crowd of Christians ahead of him, he increased his speed and ran into the group from behind them without ever honking his horn,” they said. “He mowed several Christians…Some of these Christians are permanently maimed, and their lives will not remain the same.”

The driver stopped the vehicle and ran toward police observing the assault, Tadi and Yohanna said.

“The police officers quickly put the driver in their vehicle and drove away with him, leaving behind them both dead and live bodies trapped under the loaded trailer of the driver,” they said. “Rejoicing and dancing had now turned into weeping and wailing. Some Christians came to the rescue of the victims and tried to remove them from under the heavy vehicle.”

The injured were rushed to General Hospital Billiri, but there were no emergency items and medications there, they said.

“The hospital pharmacy itself was closed, and there was no one on duty,” they said. “The volunteer medical workers who were there had to get the emergency drugs and items from a nearby pharmacy.”

The assault by the driver, identified by Gombe State Police as Usman Muhammed, followed an earlier incident that morning in Billiri, they said. At about 6.30am a vehicle ran into a man and his daughter on a motorcycle who were coming from the Easter service.

“This first incident happened at the entrance to the Federal Government College, Billiri,” they said. “The young Christian girl sustained some injuries, and her leg was bandaged to reduce bleeding. Her dad took her away for medical attention.”

During Christmas celebrations last December in the city of Gombe, “a truck drove by a Muslim driver ran into a crowd of Christians, and up to 15 Christians were injured,” they said. “Now we see a repeat of this in Billiri town.”

In 2019, they added, a Muslim police officer deliberately drove his car into a group of Christian youths, members of the Boys Brigade who were celebrating Easter in the city of Gombe, killing 10 of them, injuring more than 30.

Buhari Abdullahi, spokesman for the Gombe State Police Command, said in a press statement that the truck driver, Muhammed, has been charged in court.

“Usman Muhammed, male, 28 years old, of Afghanistan Quarters, has been formally charged with (1) inconsiderate driving and (2) causing death by dangerous driving, and the matter will proceed to court,” Abdullahi said.

Area resident Nathaniel Chechera said what began as a joyful Easter celebration turned into a tragedy.

“Christians who were simply out to express their faith and joy were forced into mourning,” Chechera told Morning Star News, adding that such attacks have become a pastime for terrorists who derive joy in killing Christians as they see these acts as jihad and worship of Allah.

“This isn’t the first time. Christian festive seasons in Gombe are increasingly becoming moments of sorrow because of the reckless and heartless actions of some Muslim truck drivers,” Chechera said. “This cycle of bloodshed in Gombe state must end as they are not just ‘accidents.’ They are avoidable tragedies.”

Hephen Yerima, another Billiri town resident, said his heart was heavy.

“Once again, tragedy has struck during an Easter rally in Gombe state. Lives lost, families shattered and dreams cut short,” Yerima told Morning Star News. “This is not the first time. It’s actually the third. This is becoming a heartbreaking pattern. This consistent loss of lives is a targeted pattern against Christians.”

Nigeria remained among the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Of the 4 476 Christians killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3 100 (69%) were in Nigeria, according to the WWL.

“The measure of anti-Christian violence in the country is already at the maximum possible under World Watch List methodology,” the report stated.

In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attack farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to the report. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states, where federal government control is scant and Christians and their communities continue to be the targets of raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, according to the report. Abductions for ransom have increased considerably in recent years.

The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda, the WWL noted. Lakurawa is affiliated with the expansionist Al-Qaeda insurgency Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.

Nigeria ranked seventh on the 2025 WWL list of the 50 worst countries for Christians.

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