Fulani continue onslaught
According to sources, Fulani herdsmen murdered six Christians in Benue state, Nigeria, on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 1-2), following the killing of 15 Christians in a nearby village two days earlier. The attack occurred in Ayilomo, a predominantly Christian village in Logo County, around 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 1), as reported by local resident Terwase Avande.
“Fulani herdsmen invaded the community and began shooting at Christian residents, killing six Christians,” Avande said. “The members of the community are farmers. They had returned from their farms when the attackers invaded the community.”
According to Paul Adetsav, a community leader in Ayilomo, residents are unable to manage their farms due to the attacks.
“The Fulani herdsmen keep attacking us almost on a daily basis, killing Christians at will and igniting fire on our houses and places of worship,” Adetsav told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Crops we planted on our farms too have been destroyed by the armed herdsmen. Hunger has become an epidemic, killing us and our children since we have nothing to eat.”
On October 30, in Anyiin village of Logo County, herdsmen took the lives of 15 Christians, according to local resident Joe Iormumbe. Another villager, Johnson Kwar, reported that the attack occurred between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. A resident named Adegwa Uba urgently called on the Nigerian government to intervene to protect lives.
“We beg the world to hear our desperate cry – our communities in Gaambe-Tiev, Logo Local Government, are being systematically decimated by relentless Fulani militia attacks,” Uba told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The bloodshed is relentless, with 21 innocent lives lost in Anyiin just last week. Our villages – Anyiin, Ayilamo, Uzer, Iorza, Mchia and Chembe have perpetual been brutally attacked by Fulani herdsmen, and children, women and elderly are slaughtered like animals.”
He stated that homes, livelihoods, and whole communities face significant threats.
“Security forces collect bodies but fail to prevent attacks or bring perpetrators to justice,” Uba said. “The government’s inaction is appalling, its silence deafening. Our political leaders seem detached, leaving us to face this horror alone.”
According to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report, Nigeria continues to be the most dangerous place in the world for Christians, with 4,118 individuals killed for their faith between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. The country also saw more kidnappings of Christians than any other nation, totaling 3,300. Additionally, Nigeria ranked third in the number of attacks on churches and other Christian sites like hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, documenting 750 incidents. In this year’s WWL report ranking countries where being a Christian is most challenging, Nigeria maintained its position at No. 6, unchanged from the previous year.
Across Nigeria and the Sahel, the predominantly Muslim Fulani consist of millions and are made up of hundreds of clans with diverse lineages. While the majority do not subscribe to extremist beliefs, certain Fulani individuals do embrace radical Islamist ideology, as highlighted by the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) in 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity.”
Image Credits:
• Fulbe woman at Sangha market, Mali 1992 via Wikipedia Commons with usage type - Creative Commons License
Featured Image Credit:
• Fulbe woman at Sangha market, Mali 1992 via Wikipedia Commons with usage type - Creative Commons License