A Christian traditional ruler was killed in an ambush on Jan. 5, while returning to his village in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, adding to a pattern of attacks targeting Christian leadership in rural communities across the Middle Belt. James Jatau, the village head of Hurra, a small farming settlement in Bassa Local Government Area (LGA), was attacked while traveling home from a community gathering in nearby Zirshe village. Residents said he did not arrive home that evening, and his body was later found along a rural road linking the two communities.