In a testimony that paints a grim picture of the security situation in parts of Nigeria, a respected clergyman has revealed the personal toll of the ongoing violence, claiming he has been forced to conduct mass burials for victims of terrorist attacks more than 70 times.
Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Plateau State, made the shocking disclosure during an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.
The clergyman, who serves communities that have been repeatedly targeted, described the killings as coordinated and devastating, accusing the government of systemic neglect.
“I have performed several genocide burials, more than 70 times,” Rev. Dachomo stated, using a term that underscores the severity of the situation in his view. “Some of the graves are five hundred and one people killed in just one night.”
His account provides a harrowing, ground-level perspective on the conflict, moving beyond statistics to the human cost of burying hundreds of victims at once. The claim of a single burial for 501 people highlights the scale of what he describes as large-scale massacres that have gone largely unreported in their full horror.
Dachomo directly accused the Nigerian government of downplaying the attacks, alleging a bias that allows the violence to persist.
“The Islamic are controlling the government,” he claimed, suggesting that this dynamic leads to a lack of will to protect Christian communities.
He further alleged that the terrorist group Boko Haram was a political creation, orchestrated by high-ranking officials to remove former President Goodluck Jonathan from office and weaken Christian political influence in the country.
“Many high-ranking government officials created Boko Haram to remove Goodluck Jonathan, who is a Christian.”
“They caused riots in every village, and the people ran away; they were relocated. Their target is to kill the Christians because Goodluck is a Christian,” Dachomo asserted.
