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Children among Christians Slain in Attacks in Two States in Nigeria
Fulani herdsmen working with Islamic extremist terrorist groups, sources say.
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Suspected Fulani herdsmen on Sunday (July 31) killed seven Christians, including four children, in an attack in Plateau state, Nigeria, following months of violence in neighboring Taraba state, sources said.
Following a July 21 attack in Fusa village, Plateau state that left five Christians dead, assailants on Sunday (July 31) invaded Danda Chigwi village in the state’s Jos South County shortly after 7 p.m., said area resident Dagah Dung.
A Christian youth leader in the village, Rwang Tengwong, said in a press statement that two other people were injured in the attack southwest of Jos, including a 4-month-old baby whose hand was cut off. Tengwong identified the slain as Ruth Gyang Bot, 16; Chundung Pam Gyang, 9; Mercy James Gyang, 12; Benjamin Pam Gyang, 5; Pam Gyang Dawho, 59; Nvou Pam Gyang, 43; and Jah Dung Pam, 50.
Tengwong, spokesman of the Berom Youth Movement (BYM), said the four females and three males slain were members of two families and were attacked in their homes.
Wounded in the attack, he said, was Lyop John Dung, 40, and, David Pam Gyang, “a 4-month- old baby whose hand was amputated by the attackers.” They were being treated at Vom Christian Hospital, operated by the Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN).
Dachung Bagos, who represents Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, described the attack as beastly in a press statement on Monday (Aug. 1).
“This incident has raised concerns over the readiness of security agencies to tackle once and for all the guerrilla style of killing which has been incessant in my constituency and Plateau state,” Bagos said. “Intelligence reports have it that the attackers had sent signals before now, and no action was taken on the part of the security agencies to curtail it; this is sad. I am angry and enraged by the daily killing within and around my constituency.”
On July 21 in Fobur town’s Fusa village, Jos East County, Fulani herdsmen killed five Christians, local residents said. Plateau State Command spokesman Alfred Alabo issued a statement confirming the attack.
“The Commissioner of Police condoles with the people of Fobur town, Fusa village, and the families of the five persons who were killed on the July 21,” Alabo said. “He assures the families of the deceased and the entire local government that efforts are on top gear to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act for them to face justice.”
Taraba State Chaos
In northeast Nigeria’s Taraba state, Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum, a member of the National Assembly who represents Takum/Donga/Ussa/Yangtu SDA Federal Constituency, said in a press statement that terrorists killed more than 30 people in predominantly Christian communities across two counties from July 5 to July 12.
“Terrorists have continued the unabated destruction of settlements in Takum and Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba state,” he said. “The avoidable killings and destruction began on April 17, 2022.”
Attacked since April in the Takum Local Government Area were Basank, Muji 1, Muji 2, Fawen, Tati, Flashin, Rikwen Tumu, Rikwen cwun, Tswen 1, Tswen 2, Kando, Kasiten, Kpashi, Shimta, Kwaben, Mbiya, Kakum, Tukok, Gaba and Mbafobani, among others, he said.
In Ussa Local Government Area, terrorists attacked the villages of Asik, Konkaen, Fangtae, Kujwaen, Kicha, Kusansang, Rikwentwen, Rikwen tsinya, Rikwen Makun, Tutuwa, Kampo and Ripaenchin, he said, while in Yangtu Special Development Area, Kwari, Boi, Kpaw, Nyifiye, Ruwa, Nyicwu and Ribasi suffered assaults.
“The terrorists waylaid innocent and defenseless Christians,” Kwewum said. “These killings and destruction have become daily occurrences – and in several of the communities the terrorist attack, crops in the field are destroyed; houses including Christian worship centers are sometimes set ablaze.”
Islamic extremist terrorists invade the areas in large numbers, simultaneously attacking several villages and settlements, he said.
“All these attacks have kept occurring without any strong, coordinated and consistent intervention from the security agencies,” Kwewum said.
On July 22 in Jenuwa Nyifiye village, at least nine Christians were killed in terrorist attacks, according to Habila Timothy Anderifun, representative in the Taraba State House of Assembly from the southern part of the state.
“On July 18, Talatu Yaro was butchered at Kujwean by the suspected armed Fulani bandits, and her remains packaged in polytene bags like bush meat,” Anderifun said in a statement. “On the same day, Rimamsikwe Audu was shredded in pieces at Kujwean village, while Andenyangtso Adamu was butchered along the Takum-Lisam road by the same armed Fulani bandits.”
Anderifun said 60 Christians were killed and 120, 000 others displaced in two months of attacks by armed herdsmen and terrorists in Ussa and Takum counties and the Yangtu development area of Taraba state.
“The killings and mutilation of the bodies of the victims in Ussa constitute crimes against humanity, and we urged the Nigerian government to take urgent steps to end these senseless killings,” Anderifun said. “It is imperative to state that communities such as Kujwean, Asik, Ripenchin, Kutuko, Kusansan and in fact, the entire Kwesati ward, Lissam II, Yangtu and Bika, among other communities, have been deserted.”
Terrorist Takeover
Since January, 300 Christians have been killed by herdsmen and other terrorists and 120,000 people have been displaced as 40 predominantly Christian communities were destroyed, said Anderifun and two other legislators of the Taraba State House Assembly, Garba Ajiya and Usman Danjuma Shiddi.
“The attacks on Christians started in January this year have now become a total invasion and occupation of no fewer than 40 communities in my constituency by armed Fulani bandits,” Garba Ajiya said.
In the last week of July, terrorists attacked Kpashimbe, Sabon-Gida Kpashimbe, Manya, Tati, Gandum I and II, Muji 1 and II, among several other communities along the Manya -Takum road, Ajiya said.
“These villages have been deserted, while the Fulani herders now graze their cows freely on displaced people’s farms,” he said. “Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons have been forced to move to Markam and Fadama Primary schools and are using the schools’ classrooms as shelter. The Catholic church and other churches in that area have taken in some of the displaced Christians.”
Shiddi added that Christians in the Ussa Local Government Area and the Yangtu Development Area have come under heavy attacks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in the past three months.
“Those attacks and massacres are very clear footprints of Boko Haram, for this was how it started in Borno and Yobe states,” Shiddi said. “Terrorist camps are now spreading over those communities from where they launch attacks and annex further communities. Terrorists are now advancing towards Takum Local Government Area. They have taken over Tati Village and Manyan, which is just about a 20-minute drive from Takum town.”
The communities attacked, he said, were Basank, Muji 1, Muji 2, Fawen, Tati, Flashing, Rikwen Tumi, Rikwen Cwun, Tswen 1, Tswen 2, Kandi, Kpambo Puri, Kasiten, Kpashi, Shimta, Kwaben, Mbiya, Kakum, Angwan Government Lodge, Tukok, Gaba, Mbafobani, Asik, Konkaen, Fangtae, Kujwaen, Kicha, Kusansang, Rikwentwen, Rikwenntsinya, Rikwen Makun, Tutuwa, Kampo, Ripaenchin, Jenuwa Koji, Kwari, Boi, Kpaw, Kwambai, Nyifiye, Ruwa, Nyicwu,Ribasi, and Bika.
“l view these security threats seriously as a potential danger to our existence, and if nothing effective is done now, the entire Taraba state starting from our area, would be taken over by Boko Haram terrorists, and from our area they would advance attacks on other areas and the neighboring states,” Shiddi said.
Dantani Attahgani Useni, president of the Southern Taraba Youth Movement (STYM), said in a press statement that terrorists of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in collaboration with Fulani herdsmen recently attacked Takum and Ussa counties.
“Southern Taraba today has become a hostile environment and a den of killers, as our farmlands are being destroyed, villages are being sacked and razed on a daily basis, our children are being kidnapped and killed, Christians have become hostages in their homes, our land is under siege by transgressors who are armed with heavy artilleries,” Useni said. “It is on record that on several occasions, the security agencies have been furnished with detailed operational activities of these terrorists and herdsmen, but nothing has been done to bring the perpetrators of these acts to book.”
Once peaceful southern Taraba is fast sliding into chaos, he said.
“The peace-loving Christians have become the target of those who seem to be above the law,” Useni said. “The unfolding situation has gone too far, and it has shown the lapses and collapse in our security architecture as a nation and a call for urgent action.”
The Rev. Isaiah Magaji Jirapye, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Taraba State Chapter, said that prior to these attacks by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen, Islamic clerics outside of Taraba state had threatened religious war and the establishment of a sharia (Islamic law) government in the state.
“The attacks on Christian communities in Ussa and Takum local government areas of the state and Yangtu Development Area by the Fulani militias have had devastating effects on Christians in these areas and resulted in the death of dozens of Christians, the displacement of thousands of other Christians and destruction of whole Christian villages,” Jirapye said. “These attacks on Christian communities have now turned the southern part of Taraba state into a land of dry bones. Urgent steps must therefore be taken by the Nigerian government to put an end to ceaseless killings in Taraba state.”
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.
Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.
In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.
Relentless Persecution of Nigerian Christians
Last year more Nigerian Christians were killed for their faith in Christ than any other nation. Between Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021 at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.
Recent reports
Christian Student in Sokoto, Nigeria Stoned to Death
A Christian student stoned to death at a college in northwest Nigeria on Thursday (May 12) was falsely accused of blaspheming the prophet of Islam because she had refused to date a Muslim, sources said.
Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 200-level student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, the capital of Sokoto state, was beaten, stoned to death and her body set on fire, area residents said; a video showing the attack reportedly appeared on social media on Thursday (May 12). In the video, an unidentified man reportedly rages in the Hausa language that he killed Yakubu and set her body on fire.
Yakubu, a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in her native Tungan Magajiya town, Rijau County in Niger state, was falsely accused of blaspheming Muhammad by a Muslim whose advances she had refused, said David Ayuba Azzaman, senior pastor at The King Worship Chapel and Ministries, Inc. in Kaduna city. Read more
Kidnapped Priest in Kaduna, Nigeria Killed by Captors
A Roman Catholic priest was among 45 Christians abducted by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists who raided at least six villages in Niger state in early March in the city of Kaduna, in northern Nigeria. He was killed around April 18-20, according to church officials.
The Rev. Joseph Aketeh Bako, parish priest of St. John’s Catholic Church, was kidnapped at about 1 a.m. on March 8 from his home at the church premises in the Kudenda area of Kaduna city, Kaduna state, in a raid that killed a security guard. The Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Kaduna, Christian Okewu Emmanuel, released a statement on Wednesday (May 11) stating that the captors killed Bako, and that information about his death was withheld until investigations could verify it. Read more
Children among 29 Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria
Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria killed eight Christians in Bassa county, Plateau state on Thursday (May 5), after slaughtering at least 21 others in another area of the county in April, sources said.
At least two children were among those killed in the Thursday night attack on Cinke and Zarama villages in Kwall District, Bassa County, and the herdsmen also wounded two Christians, a spokesman for the predominantly Christian, ethnic Rigwe said.
“The attack is no doubt the continuous perpetration of terror and mayhem in Rigwe land in an attempt to forcefully eject the peace-loving Rigwe people from their ancestral land, as well as complete annihilation of the entire tribe,” Davidson Malison of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), said in a press statement. “The attacks have become a daily affair as the marauders have assumed [they are] an ‘immuned’ set of people and are feeling untouchable, daring the authorities concerned.” Read more
At Least Eight Slain in Attack on Christian Area of Nigeria
Homes burned down in assault by Islamic extremists. At least eight people were killed in an attack on Tuesday evening (May 3) by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists on a predominantly Christian village in northeastern Nigeria, sources said.
In the latest of several attacks by the Islamic extremists on Christian communities in Chibok County, Borno state, ISWAP militants stormed Kautikari town after 6 p.m., not only shooting people dead but looting properties and destroying many homes, area residents said.
“Kautikari community is right now being attacked by ISWAP (Boko Haram) terrorists,” area resident Musa Nkeki told Morning Star News in a text message. “Your prayer is urgently needed for God’s intervention.” Read more
Christians Killed as ISWAP Expands to Taraba State, Nigeria
At least 19 slain in two states. Terrorism by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stretched into Taraba state, Nigeria for the first time on April 19, killing six Christians, sources said.
After an explosion killed the six Christians and wounded more than a dozen others at Christian-owned market where alcohol was served in Isware, Ardo Kola County, ISWAP released a statement on a telegram messaging channel asserting that it had detonated the explosive at “a gathering of infidel Christians,” according to local news reports.
ISWAP, an offshoot of Boko Haram, described its operatives as “soldiers of the caliphate in central Nigeria.”
Police spokesman Abdullahi Usman said in an April 20 statement that six persons were killed, and that more than a dozen wounded people were receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo. Read more
Herdsmen and Others Kill 18 Christians in Northern Nigeria
Assailants burn down 92 homes. Fulani herdsmen and others on Tuesday night (April 26) attacked four villages in Kaduna state, Nigeria, killing 18 Christians and burning down 92 houses, sources said.
The killings took place in three of the four villages. In Kauru County, the assailants killed 11 Christians in Ungwan Rimi village, six in Ungwan Magaji village and one at Kitakum village, said Abel Habila Adamu, president of the Chawai Development Association (CDA), in a press statement.
“Despite the ongoing peace talks between the Fulani herdsmen and the Christians of host communities in Tsam Chiefdom by relevant stakeholders, international organizations and NGOs, yet peace seems to be elusive as there are continuous attacks on the peace-loving people of Ungwan, Rimi Ungwan Magaji and Kitagum communities, all in Kamaru ward of Tsam Chiefdom, Kauru LGA, Kaduna state,” Adamu said.
He said the attacks injured seven Chritians and destroyed 92 homes. Read more
VOP Note: Please keep our Nigerian brothers and sisters in your prayers. Pray also for those who do not know Christ.
Terrorists Kill 50 Christians and Abduct 100, including Priest
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen on Thursday (March 24) killed an estimated 50 Christians and abducted a Catholic priest in attacks on communities in an area of Kaduna state, Nigeria, area sources said.
In late-night attacks on 10 predominantly Christian communities of Giwa County, herdsmen and others also took about 100 people captive and burned down a church building, area residents said.
“They also burned houses, stores and killed animals,” resident Nuhu Musa told Morning Star News by text message. “These attacks continued and lasted up to the morning of Friday, 25 March. They didn’t allow even the dead bodies to be buried, as they shot at mourners and those who returned to the villages to conduct funerals for those killed.”
Women and children were among those killed, Musa said. The burned church building was located in Zangon Tama village, and the assailants also raided the villages of Unguwar Kaya Fatika, Barebari, Dillalai, Unguwar Bakko, Gidan Alhajin Kadi, Kadanya and Durumi, he said.
“Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna state is bleeding,” Musa said.
Samuel Aruwan, commissioner in Kaduna state’s Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, said initial reports showed the assailants had attacked the villages of Dillalai, Barebari, Dokan Alhaji Ya’u, Durumi, Kaya and Fatika.
The Catholic priest, the Rev. Felix Fidson Zakari of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, was taken away at gunpoint from Zangon Tama village along with others, four area residents said. The residents and a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Zaria requested prayer for the abducted priest.
Among other villagers, Julius Agbado, a member of the Catholic church, said, “Please kindly pray for the safe release of Rev. Fr. Felix Fidson Zakari, a priest of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Zangon Tama, under the Catholic Diocese of Zaria, who was kidnapped after armed herdsmen and terrorists attacked Zangon Tama.”
Another area resident, Muazu Gogi, lamented the government’s failure to protect villagers against such attacks, which have become commonplace in Kaduna state.
“Pray for us to survive these attacks by herdsmen and bandits,” Gogi said. “These herdsmen and bandits attacked several villages in Giwa Local Government Area and killed more than 50 persons. The government is aware about the killings and destructions by these Fulani terrorists and armed bandits but is unable to protect the people.”
Killings in Benue State
In Benue state, Fulani herdsmen early Wednesday (March 23) killed three Christians, following the slaughter of more than 20 people in predominantly Christian areas of the state earlier in the month, sources said.
Residents of predominantly Christian Yoli village, in Katsina-Ala County, said the Fulani attacked at about 2 a.m. and also wounded a dozen people, forcing many to flee their homes.
“The Fulani, who had guns and weapons like machetes, attacked Christians in one of our villages, Yoyo community in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area,” Comfort Angula told Morning Star News in a text message. “They killed three members of the community, and many were forced to flee the village.”
Nicholas Kahiorga said the three Christians slain were members of the Universal Reformed Christian Church (NKST in Nigeria) in the village.
Alfred Atera, local council official of Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, confirmed the killing of the three Christians in a statement on Thursday (March 24).
The killings follow similar herdsmen attacks this month in Benue state. In Guma County, herdsmen on March 10-12 attacked Ahentse village, killing five Christians on March 12, local residents said.
On March 10 in Iye village, herdsmen killed eight Christians, and on the same day in Udeyen village, six more were killed, area residents said. Prior to the attacks, residents said they received threatening letters from the herdsmen demanding that they leave the villages or be killed. The armed herdsmen who subsequently attacked rode motorcycles, they added.
Caleb Aba, Guma council chairman, cited a lower figure, saying eight Christians were killed in attacks on Iye and Udeyen.
“The attacks of Thursday, 10 March, were carried out late at night while the villagers were sleeping,” Aba said. “In both attacks, eight Christians were killed by the herdsmen.”
He identified some of the slain as Clement Tortiv, Enoch Utim, Terkimbi Kutaer, Mtaaega Tyogbea and Aondoaver Swende, and the wounded as Sunday Gaga and Torkwase Igbira.
Paul Hemba, a Benue state government spokesman, said six Christians were killed in Iye two were slain in Udeyen.
Benue Gov. Samuel Ortom said on March 14 that herdsmen killed more than 20 people the first two weeks of the month.
“In the last two weeks, more than 20 people have been killed by Fulani terrorists in unprovoked attacks in Guma, Logo and Gwer West, Agatu,” he said. “This has led to the growing number of IDPs [Interntally Displaced People] in Benue. As I speak, more than 1.5 million people are still living in poor shanties as shelter. They have nowhere to go to.”
A community leader said in Gwer West County on March 15 said that since 2011 herdsmen have killed 390 people in the area and wounded 37. Daniel Abomste said the attacks took place in the districts of Sengey, Mbachohon, Gbaange/Tongov, Tyoughatee and Saghev/Ukusu.
“Christians in these areas have been displaced by the herdsmen attacks and forced to flee their homes,” Abomste said.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.
Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.
In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.
Islamic Terrorists Kill Three Christians in Chibok, Nigeria
(Morning Star News) – Suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists on Friday (Feb. 25) killed three Christians in an attack on northeast Nigeria’s Chibok area, residents say.
Besides the Christians killed in the attack on Kautikari village, Borno state, at about 5 p.m., a Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) worship building was destroyed, said area resident John Usman.
Another area resident, Hyeladi Buba, corroborated the report in an area where ISWAP, which broke off from the Islamic extremist rebel group Boko Haram in 2016, is still referred to as Boko Haram.
“Only God will deliver us in Chibok from these Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists,” he said.
Yohanna Chiwar, another resident, identified one of the slain Christians as Bulama Wadir.
An Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram in 2016 formally aligned with the Islamic State and changed its name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), though many Nigerians still refer to the Shekau-led faction of ISWAP by its original name, Boko Haram. The Islamic State recognizes the ISWAP faction that broke away from Shekau as its cell in the region, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The predominantly Christian Kautikari community was also attacked in mid-January, when 24 Christian women and children were captured and taken into captivity, with 20 of them still held captive, sources said. The four others managed to escape in late January.
A worship auditorium of the local EYN congregation was also damaged in the January attack, residents said. The community lies on the fringes of Sambisa forest, a base of ISWAP terrorists.
Chibok leaders reported that their communities have been attacked more than 72 times since the 2014 kidnapping of 276 public high school girls in predominantly Christian Chibok. After eight years in which 57 girls escaped on their own and others were released, 110 of the girls remain in captivity, according a report released in late January by the Chibok Area Development Association.
The report shows that at least 407 Christians have been killed in 72 attacks since 2012 in the area by Boko Haram or ISWAP rebels who seek to impose sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria.
Dauda Ndirpaya Iliya, national president of the Chibok (Kibaku) Area Development Association (KADA), said at a press conference in Abuja that, aside from the 276 Chibok girls taken into captivity in 2014, Islamic extremist terrorists have kidnapped at least 332 Christians and destroyed more than 20 Christian worship centers.
“Save the Chibok community, an ethnic nationality, from total annihilation by the Boko Haram terrorists,” Iliya said. “The parents and the communities not only in Chibok have continued to be subjected to persistent and sustained attacks, killings, abductions, maiming, arsons and other myriads of criminality without adequate government protection. Chibok has been for all intents and purposes abandoned to its own devices by all layers of government in Nigeria.”
Since 2012, untold numbers of homes, businesses, grain storehouses have been destroyed, he said.
The escalation in attacks from late 2018 to the present is alarming, he said. Kautikari, the second largest town in the Chibok area, was also attacked on Jan. 14, with five girls abducted, three persons killed and many houses and church buildings set aflame, he said.
“In sustaining their carnage, Piyemi, another big town in Chibok area, was attacked on Jan. 20 with 19 persons (mostly girls) abducted and one person, the vigilante leader, beheaded,” Iliya said. “The town was practically razed down, and virtually all the recently harvested agricultural produce completely burnt down and/or looted.”
Chibok is a mainly agrarian community, and the whole year’s harvests have been lost to sustained and targeted attacks, raising serious food security concerns, he said.
Iliya called on authorities to rescue the remaining 110 girls abducted in 2014 and others subsequently kidnapped.
“We also request the federal government to order deployment of more military personnel as well as better arms to Chibok to halt the continuous attacks on the community,” he said.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.
Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.
In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.
ISWAP Terrorists Kill 12 Christians in Borno State, Nigeria
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Terrorists with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Sunday (Dec. 19) killed 12 Christians in an attack in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, sources said.
The Islamic extremist militants attacked the predominantly Christian village of Kilangal, Askira-Uba County, in the afternoon, shortly after residents were leaving church worship services, area residents told Morning Star News by text message.
Dauda Sabo, spokesman for the Askira-Uba Local Government Council, confirmed the attack in a statement on Monday (Dec. 20), saying ISWAP militants killed 12 people and wounded three others, along with burning down nine houses.
“The [Askira-Uba Local Government] Council officials visited the grave where the 12 people killed were buried,” Sabo said. “They condemned the attack and described it as gruesome, sad and inhumane.”
The terrorists also were reported to have looted shops.
Sources said the assailants faced no resistance. Area resident Abdul Balte said those killed were Christians.
“The attacks were carried out by these armed terrorists without resistance from military in the area,” Balte said. “Christians who survived have been forced to flee the village.”
The Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram in 2015 formally aligned with the Islamic State and changed its name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and many Nigerians still refer to the Shekau-led faction of ISWAP by its original name, Boko Haram. Another area resident, Yakubu Joshua, said this was not the first attack on the area.
“These persistent attacks on our villages by Boko Haram have left us in perpetual penury and the loss of our people,” Joshua said. “I pray the Lord hears our prayers and heals our land.”
Area resident Markus Njidda described the attacks as savage.
“This attack marks the sad misfortune Christians in the northeast are made to face by Boko Haram terrorists,” Njidda said. “These attacks are savagely carried out against Christians.”
Area resident Joseph Yohanna added, “I feel very sad that our people have continued to be attacked ceaselessly by Boko Haram elements without the government doing anything to end these attacks. Please pray that God deliver our people and the country from these murderers.”
The Islamic State recognizes the ISWAP faction that broke away from Shekau in 2016 as its cell in the region, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
In a video released on July 22, 2020, Islamic extremists thought to be members of ISWAP executed five Nigerian men in Borno state, with one executioner saying it was a warning to “all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity.”
On Jan. 20, 2020, Islamic terrorists executed the Rev. Lawan Andimi, district chairman of the EYN in Michika County, Adamawa state, also in northeast Nigeria.
A video released in January 2020 shows ISWAP terrorists executing Christian university student Ropvil Daciya Dalep, a member of the Church of Christ in Nations who was kidnapped on the Damaturu-Maiduguri Highway while returning to studies in Maiduguri, Borno state.
Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List. In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list.
Nigeria led the world in number of kidnapped Christians last year with 990, according to the WWL report. In the 2021 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria broke into the top 10 for the first time, jumping to No. 9 from No. 12 the previous year.
Soldiers Complicit in Herdsmen Attacks in Nigeria, Christians Say
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Soldiers and security personnel failed to intervene this month as Fulani herdsmen killed 70 Christians in one area of Plateau state, Nigeria, while in other areas soldiers helped herdsmen destroy farmland, Christian leaders said.
Muslim Fulanis killed 70 Christians, displaced 30,000 others and burned 500 homes in attacks on villages in Miango District, Bassa County the first three weeks of August, according to Davidson Malison, spokesman for the predominantly Christian Irigwe ethnic group.
The Rev. Ronku Aka, another leader of the Irigwe community, said the attacks took place in spite of the presence of forces deployed to the area to protect residents.
“While the Fulani herdsmen were attacking my communities, the soldiers and other security agents were around,” Pastor Aka said in a message to Morning Star News. “As the Fulani invaders were carrying out the attacks, we expected them to confront the invaders and stop the destruction going on, but that did not happen.”
When Pastor Aka questioned the soldiers, they told him that they had not received orders to repel the attackers, he said.
“If the security agents were deployed and allowed to do their job, maybe the Fulani attackers would not have succeeded with their evil plans, and my people would not be suffering what they are experiencing at the moment,” he said.
Malison identified some of the predominantly Christian villages attacked in Miango District this month as Zanwra, Kpatenvie (Jebbu-Miango), Nche-Tahu, Rikwe-Rishe, Ri-Dogo, Nchu-Nzhwa, Kpachudu, Kwall and Tafi-Gana.
“Unceasing tears have continued to roll in our eyes as a nation and people even as this note is penned down,” Malison said. “The terror being unleashed by Fulani herdsmen on Irigwe Christians has continued unabated and without any sign of remorse or regret.”
It is estimated that attacks in the past month have also destroyed 1,000 farms.
The Rev. Dachollom Datiri, president of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), appealed to state and federal governments to provide aid for 30,000 people displaced from 39 Irigwe Christian communities in Bassa County who are now in camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Miango and Kwall.
Security, Soldiers Complicit
Among the predominantly Christian Berom people in Plateau state’s Barkin Ladi, Jos South and Riyom counties, among others, more than 50 Christians have been killed this year, including women and children, and 26 others wounded, according to area leader Elisha Datiri.
The herdsmen have destroyed at least 30 hectares of farmlands in the attacks, sometimes with help from the Nigerian army, Datiri said in a statement to Morning Star News.
“Sadly, this carnage, genocide and wanton destruction of properties are being carried out in the very eyes of the security personnel whom the government spends billions of taxpayers’ money on in their operation to protect lives and properties of all Nigerians,” Datiri said. “In many instances, the military collaborates with the Fulanis to carry out these dastardly acts. The military’s direct participation in the destruction of Christians’ farmlands and properties has at many times generated many petitions, press conferences/releases and in some instances physical demonstrations by the Christian communities demanding the removal of the military.”
The killings and destruction have taken place without any compensation by government at any level, he said.
“There are more than 55 hamlets and villages in Christian communities especially, in Barkin Ladi and Riyom LGAs [Local Government Areas], that are currently under the forceful occupation of the Fulani and in some instances have already been renamed as proof of an unprecedented wave of land grabs,” Datiri said. “There’s a continued onslaught on Christians which is being championed by the Fulanis and aided by the security agencies saddled with the responsibility to protect lives and property.”
Noting that the Fulani herdsmen ranked as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world on the 2018 Global Terrorism Index, Datiri said their attacks are taking place on a near daily basis.
“We wish to note with deep concern the unacceptable plundering of our land under the direct watch of constituted authorities charged with the responsibility of upholding all people’s rights as entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution,” he said.
Herdsmen attacks also took place in June and July, Christian residents said.
Byei village resident Moses Dantong said Fulani militias surrounded his village on July 11 with sophisticated weapons, shooting and seriously wounding his nephew, 38-year-old James Yohanna, in the chest. The previous day, the herdsmen cut down villagers’ crops, he said.
In a June 29 attack on the same village, herdsmen shot dead 21-yearold Patrick Pam, Danton said.
Herdsmen on June 30 attacked the predominantly Christian villages of Tamborong and Gwol-Hoss, in Riyom County, killing two Christians, said community leader John Giwa.
“The two Christian victims, Sunday Dogo and Joshu Usman, were returning from Ganawuri market, and unknown to them the attackers who were armed Fulani herdsman ambushed them,” Giwa told Morning Star News. “Both of them died after being shot. A third victim, Danlami Musa, was with bullet wounds.”
In Gwol-Hoss on June 28, herdsmen killed primary school headmaster Bitrus Manzere, said Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, a lawyer from the area.
“Bitrus Manzere was hacked death by Fulani herdsmen,” Mwantiri said. “Manzere, 63, was returning home at about 9 p.m. He’s survived by his wife and eight children.”
Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List. In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list.
In this year’s World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria broke into the top 10 for the first time, jumping to No. 9 from No. 12 the previous year.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
The APPG report noted that tribal loyalties cannot be overlooked.
“In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was elected president of Nigeria,” the group reported. “He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country.”
The U.S. State Department on Dec. 7 added Nigeria to its list of Countries of Particular Concern for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Nigeria joined Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the list.
In a more recent category of non-state actors, the State Department also designated ISWAP, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular Concern.”
On Dec. 10 the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a statement calling for investigation into crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
Photo: Plateau state, Nigeria. (Uwe Dedering, Wikipedia)
Herdsmen Kill Christians in Nigeria’s Nasarawa, Plateau States
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 12 Christians in Nasarawa state and three others in Plateau state the last part of April, sources said.
In north-central Nigeria’s Nasarawa state, herdsmen killed 12 Christian farmers in Ajimaka, Doma County, in attacks there and in 13 other villages from April 24 until April 29, area leader Barnabas Zayol told Morning Star News. The attacks displaced tens of thousands of people, Christian leaders said.
A survivor of the attack on Ajikama village, Terlumun Tsekaa, said the herdsmen arrived at about 2 a.m. on April 24 with guns and machetes and killed his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and 3-year-old child.
“There were more than 30 of these herdsmen who attacked us, and they were shouting ‘Allah akbar [Allah is greater]’ as they shot at us and burned our houses,” Tsekaa told Morning Star News. “They set fire on all houses in the village. They also killed a whole family of five members.”
In Doma County, the herdsmen also attacked Dooshima, Antsa, Dooka, Angwan Yara, Ikyayior, Targema, Tse Tor, Chia, Umurayi, Dooga, Gindan Rail and Ankoma villages; in Keana County, they attacked Ategher, Avewua, Ugbele Aondokaa, Ikper, Gborgyo and Uluwa Kwananke villages, Zayol said.
“They burned down houses and killed indiscriminately anyone they sighted,” Zayol said. “Those killed during the attacks include children and pregnant women.”
Victims were members of Universal Reformed Christian Church (NKST in Nigeria), Roman Catholic, Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC) and Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) churches, he said. He identified those slain as Tsekaa Chiatyo, Kwaghdoo Tsekaa, Sewuese Tsekaa, Bobo Chiatyo, Aondosee Fidelis, Aboy, Igba Aduku, Iwueseter, Aseer, Kasehumba, William Katu and Aondowase Agbu.
Citing nine dead, police confirmed the attacks and said personnel were sent to the area. Ramhan Nansel, spokesman for the Nasarawa State Police Command, said in a statement that officers received report of the attack on Ajimaka at about 6 a.m. on April 24.
“Upon receipt of the information, a joint team of police and military personnel were deployed to the scene, where nine corpses were recovered, each with multiple machete cuts,” Nansel said.
Nasarawa Gov. Abdullahi Sule issued a statement through his chief press secretary, Ibrahim Addra.
“An attack that does not spare women and children bears the trademark of devilish elements who are bent on truncating the relative peace in the state,” he said. “A thorough investigations by security operatives have since commenced in order to expose the criminals and punish them according to the laws of the land. My condolences and prayers are with families of those who lost their lives.
“I urge them and the rest of our citizens to be assured that this administration will do all within its power to ensure justice, peace and security across the state.”
Attack on Funeral in Plateau State
In neighboring Plateau state on April 25, Fulani herdsmen killed one Christian and wounded another in Miango, Bassa County, an area resident said.
“Danlami Musa, 21, was killed, while Friday Musa, 19, his brother, was injured during the attack at about 7 p.m. at the twins hills, Miango,” Patience Moses said. “Please keep praying for God’s intervention on our behalf.”
On the same day in Bokkos County, herdsmen killed Christian community leader Yakubu Dadel in Jwanshak village in an attack on a funeral service at about 8:30 p.m., his son said.
Ayuba Dadel said his father was killed as other villagers scampered into nearby bushes.
“We were holding a funeral service when the Fulani gunmen came shooting sporadically, and everyone scampered for safety,” Dadel said in a text message to Morning Star News. “My father was in his house and only ran out to lock his gate. When they sighted him, they chased after him with serious gunfire. They first injured him on the hand, and when he ran to his bedroom, they followed him, dragged him to the ground from his bed and shot him point blank.”
Also in Bokkos County, Fulani herdsmen attacked Daffo village on April 20, killing Christian resident Iliya Mutong, villagers said.
“Iliya Mutong was cut with machetes until he died at about 8 p.m.,” Kyanan Mizhim said in a text message to Morning Star News. “He was sitting in front of his house when a group of Fulani herdsmen attacked him.”
In Jos South County on April 9, Fulani herdsmen were suspected in the killing of eight Christian miners at Shawalan mining site, near Kuru village. Emmanuel Jang, a Jos South council official, said their bodies were retrieved from the site and a funeral was held for them.
“They were all members of the Church of Christ in Nations,” Jang said in a text message to Morning Star News.
On March 13 in Barkin Ladi County, high school student David James, 18, was killed by Fulani herdsmen in Dorowa Babuje village, his father said. Solomon James, 68, said in a text message to Morning Star News that his son was killed in their home shortly before 8 p.m.
Community leader John Choji confirmed the killing of James.
“Our community has been under siege of armed Fulani herdsmen for a number of years now,” Choji said.
In the Dutse area of Miango on Feb. 1, a band of herdsmen killed twelve Christian farmers as they worked their fields, according to Edward Egbuka, Plateau state commissioner of police.
World Leader in Christians Killed
Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Open Door’s 2021 World Watch List report.
In the 2021 list of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria broke into the top 10 for the first time, jumping to No. 9 from No. 12 the previous year. In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
The APPG report noted that tribal loyalties cannot be overlooked.
“In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was elected president of Nigeria,” the group reported. “He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country.”
The U.S. State Department on Dec. 7 added Nigeria to its list of Countries of Particular Concern for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Nigeria joined Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the list.
In a more recent category of non-state actors, the State Department also designated ISWAP, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular Concern.”
On Dec. 10 the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a statement calling for investigation into crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
Photo: Nasarawa state, Nigeria. (Creative Commons)
Muslim Fulani Kill 11 Christians, Wound Two, in Nigeria
Homes burned by Fulani assailants in Bassa County, Plateau state, Nigeria in February 2021. (David Mali photo)
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot four Christians to death on Sunday (Feb. 14) in north-central Nigeria, following the killing of seven other Christians earlier in the month.
Muslim Fulani herdsmen ambushed the four members of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) at about 8 p.m. in Kwall District, Bassa County of Plateau state, three of them near Ri-Bakwa village and one in Zirshe village, according to David Mali, spokesman for the Irigwe Development Association (IDA). The IDA unites the predominantly Christian, ethnic Irigwe of Plateau state.
“Irigwe nation has again been thrown into the state of grief, heart-brokenness following the unwarranted killing of four of our Christian men by the Fulani herdsmen at two villages of Kwall District, Bassa LGA of Plateau state,” Mali said in a press statement. “Four of them from Rikwe-Chongu village were ambushed along Ri-Bakwa axis near Kpachudu, and three were killed instantly while one sustained gunshot injury. The other one from Zirshe (Ntireku) was ambushed and killed instantly.”
Mali identified the slain Christians as Ezekiel Maja, 29; Emmanuel Agaba, 39; Moses Daburu, 26; and Kefas Bulus David, 31. Wounded was Bitrus Ezra, 42.
The herdsmen burned several houses and food grains worth millions of naira in Zirshe village, he said.
“Irigwe nation is our land, and no amount of evil force can compel us to relinquish it to those who hate us and our Christian faith,” Mali said. “We are known for resilience, and so we shall remain till the end of age.”
Such unprovoked violence must be stopped, and the Christian Irigwe’s decision to be a peace-loving people who will not retaliate should not be taken as an act of cowardice, Mali said.
“In the same vein, we want to call with a high tone on the authorities saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property to step up efforts in ensuring that the needful is done in terms of apprehending the culprits and absolute justice served, so as to put an end to all manners of destruction of lives and property within Irigwe nation,” he said.
The killings followed a Feb. 7 Fulani herdsmen attack on Christians in the villages of Kishosho and Zirshe in southern Kaduna state’s Kauru County, Mali said. Church elder Danlami Sunday, 40, and four other Christians were killed, he said. There are villages called Zirshe in both Kaduna state and Plateau state.
“This attack occurred around 7:30 p.m. of Sunday, Feb. 7, where Fulani Herdsmen in their numbers ambushed and killed the harmless and innocuous people of Kishosho and Zirshe communities of Kauru LGA, Kaduna state,” he said. “One sustained some degrees of injury and has been hospitalized. The five Christians were killed at Kishosho and Zirshe villages. The herdsmen also attacked Kigam village and burned foods and grains.”
In Plateau state’s Miango area, in Bassa County, Fulani herdsmen on Feb. 2 ambushed and killed two Christians on a road in Dudu village, he said. Raphael Bawa, 39, was shot dead, while Aga Mabo was shot in the chest and later died at Enos hospital, according to Mali.
“In recent times, Fulani herdsmen have killed hundreds of our people, with thousands displaced, houses razed down and farmed crops destroyed, leaving behind 200 orphans and vulnerable children, as well as 50 women widowed,” he said.
School Attack
In Niger state on Wednesday (Feb. 17), gunmen attacked a boarding high school for boys, killing a Christian student and abducting 42 people, sources said.
Benjamin Habila was killed in the attack on the Government Science College, Kagara town in Rafi County, an area resident said.
“A Christian student, Benjamin Habila, was shot dead by the bandits as he tried to escape from them, while seven other Christian students and staffs were captured alongside other non-Christian students, staff and their family members,” Justina Aliyu told Morning Star News by text message. “They were taken away at gunpoint into forests.”
The gunmen, dressed in military camouflage, attacked between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., reportedly gathering students outside and chasing and shooting those trying to escape, including Muslims.
Niger Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello said that 27 students, three staff members and 12 relatives were abducted.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said armed forces and police had been directed to ensure the immediate and safe return of those abducted.
Aliyu, a Christian resident of Kagara, said the assailants were Fulani who broke into the school, shooting and raiding the staff quarters and student hostels. The statement from the governor’s office identified some among those kidnapped as Christians Philip Dodo and his wife, Hannatu Philip Dodo, Christiana Adama, Faith Adama, Shem Joshua, Ezekeil Danladi, Habakuk Augustine and Polonius Vincent.
About 1,000 students were at the school at the time of the attack.
Country with Most Christians Killed
Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List. In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list.
Nigeria led the world in number of kidnapped Christians last year with 990, according to the WWL report. In the 2021 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria broke into the top 10 for the first time, jumping to No. 9 from No. 12 the previous year.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
The APPG report noted that tribal loyalties cannot be overlooked.
“In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was elected president of Nigeria,” the group reported. “He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country.”
The U.S. State Department on Dec. 7 added Nigeria to its list of Countries of Particular Concern for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Nigeria joined Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the list.
In a more recent category of non-state actors, the State Department also designated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular Concern.”
On Dec. 10 the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a statement calling for investigation into crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED 