Christians across Nigeria on Sunday joined millions of faithful around the world to celebrate Easter, marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Despite this year’s celebration being slightly marred by attacks in Plateau and other northern states, worshippers gathered for special Easter services.
The celebrations, which followed weeks of Lenten observances, featured prayers, hymns and sermons centred on themes of sacrifice, hope and renewal.
Easter remains one of the most significant religious events for Christians worldwide, symbolising hope and new beginnings.
For many Nigerians, the celebration also serves as a moment for reflection, charity and renewed commitment to faith and community values.
Clergy members, in their messages, urged Nigerians to embrace peace, unity and compassion, while reflecting on the significance of the season.
Many churches also held sunrise services, a tradition observed in several parts of the world to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.
End Insecurity
In its Easter message, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter, called on both the Federal Government and the Niger State Government to urgently step up efforts to ease the hardship faced by citizens and tackle the lingering insecurity in the state.
The appeal was presented by the State Chairman, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna.
In the message titled “Be Hopeful, Be Resilient, Be Compassionate,” Bishop Yohanna urged Christians to embody the spirit of Easter by showing love and support to vulnerable groups, including widows and orphans.
He described Easter as the joyful climax of the Lenten season, marked by prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and noted that it symbolises hope, renewal and God’s enduring love for humanity.
Addressing the challenges facing the state, he called on authorities to take urgent and decisive action.
“We urge the Federal and State Governments to take decisive steps to alleviate the sufferings of the people and bring an end to the insecurity that has ravaged our communities, claimed innocent lives, disrupted farming activities, and displaced many of our citizens,” he said.
The cleric also appealed to residents to remain prayerful and united, while offering support for the administration of Umaru Bago.
“Let us pray that God grants him the wisdom and strength to effectively pursue and actualise the ‘New Niger Agenda.’ It is our hope that all ongoing projects will be completed for the benefit of the people,” he added.
Bishop Yohanna further encouraged active civic participation ahead of the 2027 general elections and called for inclusive governance. Emphasising the values of the season, he said,
“Let us be living examples through lives of love, mercy, compassion, and selfless service, demonstrating that the Risen Christ lives in our hearts.”
Easter Under Cloud Of Mideast War
Elsewhere, Pope Leo XIV marked Easter Sunday for the first time as pontiff, with the Middle East war casting a pall over the most important date in the Christian calendar.
The US-born pope, who has emerged as a leading voice against the war, will hold mass in St Peter’s Square from 0830 GMT in front of thousands of faithful.
The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will then pronounce a traditional blessing at 1000 GMT that will be closely followed by this year.
The ceremony will also bring back memories of late Pope Francis, who last appeared in public on Easter Sunday last year — a few hours before he died.
Speaking during an Easter Vigil on Saturday, the pontiff called for “a new world of peace and unity” and decried the divisions created by “war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations”.
Leo has repeatedly called for peace in the Middle East and this week directly urged US President Donald Trump to find an “off-ramp”.
From the deserted Old City of Jerusalem to the Christian villages in Lebanon caught in the crossfire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, the Middle East war has set a dark tone for a normally joyous celebration.
In Jerusalem, services in the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Christians believe Christ was resurrected, are being held behind closed doors.
Israel has imposed restrictions on large gatherings as a security precaution because of the constant threat of strikes since the US and Israel began bombarding Iran on February 28.
“It is the first time in my life that I experience a total closure” of the Holy Sepulchre, Jack Straw, a 52-year-old resident of Jerusalem’s Old City, told AFP.
“It’s sad. The Sepulchre is empty. It’s the symbol of the most important event in Christian history,” he said, adding that he hoped the closure would only be for this year.
– ‘Situation is tragic’ –
“The doors are still closed,” the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in his Easter Vigil homily at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Pizzaballa was prevented by Israeli police from holding a mass in the church last Sunday, an incident that sparked international indignation.
“The silence is almost absolute, broken perhaps by the distant sound of what war continues to sow in this holy and torn land,” he said, according to a text of his sermon issued by his office.
In Lebanon, the majority Christian areas in the south of the country are caught in the crossfire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
In Debel, close to the Israeli border, inhabitants prepared to celebrate Easter Sunday despite the sound of bombardment around their village, now almost totally cut off from the world and dependent on aid deliveries.
“The situation is tragic,” town notable Joseph Attieh told AFP by phone.
“People are terrified, and the sound of shelling and gunfire has not stopped for a moment since last night. We haven’t been able to sleep.
“We are putting our trust in God,” Attieh said, since “this is the only glimmer of hope we will not give up on”.
