On Friday, 31 January 2014, at approximately 8:30 p.m., a large group of suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked the EYN Church (Church of the Brethren) at Sabo Gari Gemadai Ward in Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State. The worshippers were gathered for a night vigil when the attackers stormed the church and began shooting sporadically, killing the pastor and 10 members of his congregation. This attack occurred less than a week after the massacre at the Catholic Church in Chakawa village (26 January), which had killed over 35 persons.
31 Jan 2014 · Sabo Gari Gemadai Ward, Gulak, Madagali, Adamawa
Deaths
11
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
11
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
The Chairman of Madagali LGA, Ularamu Maina, confirmed the attack. The Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Ahmadu Fintiri, who had visited Chakawa earlier that day, called on the Federal Government to deploy more troops to the area.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
The attack was part of Boko Haram‘s sustained campaign against soft civilian targets, particularly Christian worshippers, in Adamawa State. The insurgents sought to maximise casualties by striking during a crowded night vigil, a time when worshippers were particularly vulnerable. The mountainous terrain and porous border with Borno State, where Boko Haram was based, made such attacks difficult for security forces to prevent. The Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly noted that the state of emergency “only covers the highways, leaving rural dwellers at the mercy of rampaging gunmen”.
Trajectory
This attack was the second major massacre in Madagali LGA within a week. The first was on 26 January at the Catholic Church in Chakawa (killing over 35). The two attacks, which struck different denominations (Catholic and EYN), demonstrated the breadth of Boko Haram’s targeting of the Christian community in the area. The attack at a night vigil, rather than a Sunday service, showed the insurgents adapting their tactics to strike at different times and maximise casualties.
Cycle notes
The attack was part of a rapid cycle of violence in Adamawa State in early 2014. It followed the 26 January Chakawa massacre and was followed by further attacks in the state, including the 2 March 2014 attack on the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Kaduna State, which killed 14 worshippers. The pattern of a large massacre followed by a smaller, more targeted attack on a different denomination within a week was a recurring feature of Boko Haram’s operations in early 2014, designed to create an atmosphere of relentless terror and to undermine any sense of security among the Christian population.
Pattern
Night vigil attack
Related — Armed Attack
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