Children ‘butchered to death’ by Fulani herders in attacks
on Nigeria’s Christian villages
By Anugrah Kumar,
Christian Post Contributor|
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Christians hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during a prayer and penance for peace and security in Nigeria in Abuja on March 1, 2020. The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria gathered faithfuls as well as other Christians and other people to pray for security and to denounce the barbaric killings of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria. | AFP via Getty Images/KOLA SULAIMON
Suspected Fulani herdsmen brutally killed dozens of Christians, including children and eight members of one family, in attacks on Christian villages in Nigeria’s Plateau State, according to reports.
In one attack last Sunday, suspected armed jihadist herdsmen "butchered to death" 14 Christians, including children, in Kwi village in Riyom County near Jos, Morning Star News reported, quoting area resident Solomon Mandiks, a Christian rights activist.
Then, in a separate attack the same day, eight Christians were killed in Dong village in Jos North County, Asabe Samuel, a member of the local Evangelical Church Winning All congregation, was quoted as saying.
“I was by the central area of the village, which has shops and serves as a market, when I heard Fulani gunmen shooting around my house,” Samuel said. “This forced us to run to hide.”
Samuel added that despite the gunshots being shot from the direction of her house, “I still rushed to my house, and just as I was getting closer to my house, I found that one Istifanus Shehu, 40, a member of COCIN (Church of Christ in Nations) who has had mental health challenges, was shot dead, and his corpse was lying beside my house. We heard the attackers retreating and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater).’ The herdsmen were also communicating with themselves in the Fulani language.”
Police arrived the following morning, Pastor Jonathan Kyoomnom Bala of the ECWA church in Dong, was quoted as saying. “These herdsmen carried out the attack on us for about 40 minutes and left without intervention from soldiers or the police,” he said.
Before the 22 Christians were killed Sunday, 15 others were murdered by suspected herdsmen last month in the same state.
The U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern designates the Fulani Militia as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world and says it has surpassed Boko Haram as the greatest threat to Nigerian Christians.
“Many believe that the attacks are motivated by jihadist Fulani’s desire to take over farmland and impose Islam on the population and are frustrated with the Muslim-dominated government that is believed to be enabling such atrocities,” it adds.
The number of Christians murdered within the first four months of this year – 1,470 – was the highest since 2014 and surpasses the number of Christians killed in 2019, according to a recent report released by the Nigerian civil society group, Intersociety Rule of Law.
Northwestern Kaduna state recorded the highest number of Christian deaths, at 300. The Northcentral Benue state witnessed 200 murders of Christians, followed by the Central Plateau state with 90 Christian deaths, said Intersociety, an organization headed by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi.
The Northern Muslim-controlled Nigerian Army also killed at least 120 Christians in the states of Benue, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi, the report added.
In the first four months of this year, at least 2,200 Christians were abducted, with Kaduna state recording the highest number at 800 abductions.
The Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria as the third-most affected country by terrorism and reported over 22,000 deaths by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.
The U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom’s 2021 report warned that Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Christian genocide” if action is not taken.
It would appear they already have, and the Nigerian government is not doing anything to even slow it down.
Islamic extremism, particularly in Northeast Nigeria, has led to thousands of deaths and millions displaced in recent years.
Nigeria was the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in “tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
Female Soldier neutralizes terrorist after being shot in chest in Texas
Facebook
A young female Sailor on duty checking IDs was shot square in the chest by the terrorist. Her ceramic armor stopped the bullet, but the force knocked her to the ground.
She was able to activate the final denial barrier before the terrorist could pass through. She then unloaded her side arm pistol into the vehicle killing the terrorist and saving unknown lives.
Just in case this hadn't made it into your news feed, I thought you should know.
Of course, a story like this is not part of the accepted narrative for most American media.
Nigerian Christian pastor, 3-y/o son killed by radical Fulani herdsmen
who surrounded their home
By Emily Wood,
Christian Post Reporter
| Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Nigerian Catholic worshipers pray during morning mass April 12, 2005, in Kano, Nigeria. Kano is part of Nigeria's primarily Muslim north, but a devoted Catholic minority participates in frequent Masses in local cathedrals.
| Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Radical Fulani herdsmen killed a 39-year-old Christian pastor and his 3-year-old son in Niger state, Nigeria, while his wife and daughter managed to escape the extremists' attack on their home.
Leviticus Makpa had established a Christian school in the remote Kamberi village and was killed on his mission base with his son, Godsend Makpa, in the May 21 attack, according to reports obtained by Morning Star News.
“Our missionary brother, Pastor Leviticus Makpa, was shot dead with his son by Fulani bandits,” area resident Deborah Omeiza told Morning Star News in a text message. “His wife escaped with their daughter.”
An associate of the pastor said Makpa texted her, saying that Fulani herdsmen had surrounded his home.
“Pastor Leviticus Makpa advised that I should not phone, as the herdsmen have surrounded his house and are attacking his mission base,” she told Morning Star News. “I quickly sent airtime to him to enable him [to] keep communicating with me. While I was waiting to hear from him, we began to pray for their protection.”
Radical Fulani herdsmen had reportedly attacked the pastor in the past for his faith.
“Fulani bandits came against them, they hid in the cave to save their lives, and after they left, he went back to the field with his family; how many of us can do this?” asked Samuel Solomon, a close associate of Makpa’s. “He eventually lost his life and that of his son; the wife and daughter escaped. He knew his life was at stake, but burden for souls won’t let him run away from the field.”
Solomon said they had planned to adopt him as a missionary, “but painfully he has joined the league of martyrs in Heaven. His blood will testify over the land and also against the insecurity of a corrupt Islamist government in Nigeria.”
Solomon said the mission of the radical herdsmen is to wipe out Christianity and “obliterate the church.”
Some have accused the Nigerian government of corruption for not combating jihadi terror groups despite receiving millions in foreign aid each year for that purpose, a lack of accountability, and turning a blind eye to the cycle of violence impacting Christians.
Corruption is rampant in Nigeria, in the government, military, and business. The Muslim head of state is in no hurry to change things, nor, does it appear, has he any interest in rescuing Christians.
“Nigeria is essentially the new headquarters for the Islamic jihad seeking to establish a caliphate …,” Dede Laugesen, executive director of the United States-based advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians, told the Christian Post in an interview in March. “The Christians in Nigeria and others are very concerned that the government continues to give impunity to Islamic extremists in Nigeria. … So there’s no real accountability coming from the Nigerian government.”
Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of people were killed by radicalized Fulani herdsmen attacks in 2020 alone.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and ranks No. 9 on Open Doors' World Watch List for Christian persecution worldwide due to an “extreme” level of Islamic oppression. It is where more Christians are murdered for their faith each year than anywhere else.
" ... Christians are often murdered or have their property and means of livelihood destroyed. Men and boys are particularly vulnerable to being killed," Open Doors reports. "The women and children left behind are very vulnerable and living testimonies to the power of the attackers. Perpetrators are seldom brought to justice. Christian women are often abducted and raped by these militant groups, and sometimes forced to marry Muslims."
About 46% of Nigeria's population identifies as Christian, with over 95 million believers, and the divide between Christians and Muslims is roughly even, according to Open Doors.
The Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria as the third-most affected country by terrorism and reports that over 22,000 people were killed by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.
The U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom’s 2021 report warned Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Christian genocide” if action is not taken quickly.
Nigeria was the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department's list of "countries of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in “tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
An American pastor and attorney recently rebuilt a Nigerian church in time for Easter Sunday that was burned down in a Fulani attack in 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment