70 Christians have been reportedly murdered in Plateau State,
including one pastor. The body count was said to have piled up after at
least a half dozen attacks allegedly perpetrated by cattle herders.
Herders frequently terrorize Christian farmers in Plateau, Bauchi,
Kaduna, Taraba, Benue, among others.The herdsmen regularly raid
Christian villages opening up a hail of gunfire, burning homes and
churches, and shooting their victims when they run outside to escape the
fires.
“The jihadists, in their quest to eliminate Christians in Plateau State
and their thirst for blood, have succeeded in killing Christians and
burning their houses,” said Gyang, a local man whose full name is
withheld to protect his safety.
The most deadly attack occurred on May 2 when herdsmen reportedly set
fire to the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) located in Foron Town,
Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (LGA), killing 27 Christians. The
victims included Rev. Luka Gwom and a congregant named Pauline who was
married just two weeks prior in the same church building.
File photo. Attack in Plateau
The recent raids have all occurred in two areas of Plateau State: Barkin
Ladi and Riyom Local Government Areas. These frightening experiences
have become nearly a weekly terror for Christians in the region. From
April 25 to May 11, Gyang reported at least six attacks on more than
eightvillages, some of them targeted more than once during that time
span.
“We in Riyom and Barkin Ladi LGAs have been under siege and invasion.
Lives have been lost almost every day, and [there is] no serious action
from any quarter by the government. But we are still faithful to our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Gyang said as he recounted an attack that
killed two members of the Rim Town community as they were returning
from the burial of fellow Christians who were slaughtered in a Fulani
raid that happened just days before.
Sadly, this recent string of assaults is nothing new for brothers and
sisters in Christ in the Middle Belt region. In mid-March, Muslim Fulani
cattle herders massacred 82 Christians in a village in Benue State,
according to Nigerian news reports. However, the secular media and
Nigerian authorities have been slow to acknowledge these events as
Christian persecution.
“It is the longstanding issue over grazing rights and cattle rustling
between Egba and Fulani people,” police spokesman Ezeala Austin said
after the March attack.
Despite the historic tensions Austin cites, witnesses to the assaults
often recount that the herdsmen chanted “Allahu Akhbar” during the
attack, the Arabic saying, “God is Great,” which has become associated
with jihadist Muslim terrorism. The herdsmen also continually and
specifically target Christian villages.
One Plateau State government official vaguely referenced recent
incidents of cattle rustling by predominantly-Christian tribes in Wase
LGA in connection to the attacks of the past month, but reports suggest
no linkage between the events. Wase LGA is located 160 miles away from
Barkin Ladi and Riyom.
International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager of Africa, Mr. Troy
Augustine, said: “The world should wake up to the forgotten persecution
happening all over Nigeria’s Middle-Belt region. Extremist Muslim Fulani
herders are regularly and consciously attacking Christian villages and
slaughtering our brothers and sisters in Christ. I don’t know what else
needs to be explained to acknowledge that these people are persecuted
because of their faith”.
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