Nicki Minaj didn’t offer a hot take or a call to action this time. She offered a prayer. “Lord, if we hear from you, then we will know what to do,” she wrote above a report about the Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, a Nigerian pastor who has spent the past week burying members of his community in Plateau State.
The rapper didn’t name an attacker or suggest any response. But the report she shared landed after a brutal stretch south of Jos, where gunmen hit Gassa and nearby Chit on September 24.
Local accounts say three members of Gassa’s community watch were killed. Channels Television named them as Ishaya Pam Dung, Barnabas Gyang Jack and Manasseh Luka Mushwer, citing the Berom Youth Moulders Association.
That same group reported four more deaths across surrounding communities between September 23 and 24, plus damage to more than 20 hectares of farmland. Security authorities hadn’t independently confirmed those numbers when Channels published them, so the wider toll is still unclear.
TruthNigeria, whose report appeared in Minaj’s post, called the Gassa assault the fifth attack in the area within a week. Its reporter saw Dachomo standing by a grave for three victims on September 25, while word of more deaths came in from neighboring villages. Days earlier, residents had mourned a pastor and a church worker killed on September 20 on their way to church.
At the burial, Dachomo thanked President Donald Trump for raising attacks on Christians during his United Nations speech. “Thank you for advocating for us at the United Nations Assembly. I watched your address to the end,” he said.
The violence didn’t stop there. On September 26, gunmen struck a mining site in Marit, where Premium Times reported five dead and two wounded, citing local sources. TheCable put the figure at six, citing security sources, and authorities still haven’t settled on a number.
Plateau State had already imposed an overnight curfew in Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu, yet the Gassa victims were killed after it took effect.
The state government condemned the attacks and promised security agencies would track down the gunmen. Grieving residents weren’t satisfied and took to the streets to protest the response.
The framing of the crisis is contested too. Dachomo has described the attacks on Christians as genocide, though violence in Plateau State has also claimed the lives of Muslim herders.
This isn’t new territory for Minaj. She took up the issue in November 2025 after Trump accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians, thanking him and writing, “We live in a country where we can freely worship God.”
When U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz invited her to speak at a United Nations event that month, she promised she and her audience would stand against injustice.
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed,” she told the panel. She also said protecting Christians should unite people, and spoke of respect when anyone’s church or mosque is destroyed.
For now, security forces say they’re adding patrols around Dorowa, Babuje, Marit and Lajam following Saturday’s attack at the mine. Residents who have watched killings continue under a curfew are waiting to see if this round of promises holds.
