Abuja, June 27, 2024.
A semi-nomadic Fulani (Fulbe) herdsmen killed a Christian pastor, his wife and three other Christians around midnight on June 2 in Plateau state, central Nigeria, the Christian Post website reported.
Armed extremists attacked a Christian village in Kwall community of Bassa Local Government Area, killing a 63-year-old minister of the Assemblies of God Pentecostal denomination, Dauda Dalipa, his wife, 57-year-old Chammi Dauda, Chwe Ajuh, 26, Joshua Kusu, 45, and Rikwe Doro, 43, said Sam Jugo, spokesman for the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), a civil society organization that promotes the development of predominantly Christian communities of the Irigwe people.
"In the middle of the night of June 2, Fulani herdsmen bandits attacked the village of Ari-Songo and killed five of our residents in cold blood. Two other Christians were seriously injured and are currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Jos," S. Jugo said in a statement.
He said a group of herdsmen ambushed and attacked two other Christians in the same Kwall community two days earlier.
"This sad incident comes barely two days after some herdsmen ambushed two Christians, killing one of them, Irmia Musa Timbi, while the second victim was injured," Jugo said.
Local pastor Ronku Aka as well as Fidelis Adara, a Bassa district councilor, confirmed the attack.
The Evangelical Church Overcome All (ECWA) of the Calvinist tradition has called on the Nigerian government to continue investigations into the incessant killing of Christians in the country and put an end to it. ECWA spokesman, Akus Odoh, strongly condemned the latest attack and called for a thorough investigation.
"Nigeria has lost its values and the government does not respect the right to life," Odoh said.
Spokesman of the Plateau State Police Command, Alfred Alabo, confirmed the death of five persons, including a pastor.
"The Commissioner of Police has inspected the scene and dispatched men to avoid another attack. We are communicating with the locals to get more information about the incident," Alabo reported.
It is also reported that militants of the Nigerian terrorist Islamist group "West African Province of the Islamic State" (WAPIG), which until 2015 was called Boko Haram [executed three Christians in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, according to social media images posted by the terrorist group through its propaganda channels.
The images posted on the terrorist organization's Amaq news channel show victims with their hands tied behind their backs kneeling in front of three masked gunmen. The following photos show people falling to the ground as the gunmen opened fire on them, raising puffs of smoke.
Three men were abducted from a car driving on a highway on June 3, said International Christian Concern (ICC), an international organization that monitors the situation of Christian minorities.
It is noted that while Muslim passengers were allowed to drive on, Christian passengers were kidnapped by terrorists. A fourth Christian passenger was also kidnapped, but his fate remains unknown. It is reported that the names of the victims were later published on social media.
Ibrahim Abako, the branch secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN; the umbrella organization of Christian denominations in Nigeria) in Yobe State in the North-East, confirmed the loss of innocent lives.
"We condemn the killing of three young Christians along the Damaturu-Biu Federal Highway," he said.
I. Abako called on the government and security agencies in the country to intensify their efforts against ZAPIG insurgents.
"Such incidents are happening too often. We call on the government, especially the military and the police, to take proactive measures to protect citizens, regardless of their religion," he said.
In January 2024 alone, ZAPIG terrorists carried out eight attacks on Christian communities, killing 12 people and displacing others from their homes, which were set on fire by the militants.
Nigeria remained the most dangerous place in the world for followers of Christ from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, when 4,118 people were killed here for their faith, according to a report by the human rights organization Open Doors. Nigeria has also recorded more cases of kidnapping of Christians than any other country - 3,300.
Nigeria also came third in the number of attacks on churches and other Christian facilities such as hospitals, schools and cemeteries with 750 cases.
In the top 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian in 2024, Nigeria ranked 6th, the same as a year earlier.
The nomadic Fulani herders, Muslims by religion, who number in the millions across Nigeria, are made up of hundreds of diverse clans. Some Fulani adhere to a radical Islamist ideology.
Christian leaders in Nigeria believe attacks by Fulani herdsmen on Christian communities in the country are driven by their desire to forcefully take over Christians' lands and impose Islam on them, as desertification makes it difficult for them to operate.
Sources:
https://www.christianpost.com/news/assemblies-of-god-pastors-wife-3-others-killed-in-cold-blood.html
https://www.christianpost.com/news/three-christians-executed-by-islamic-extremists-nigeria.html
