Recent Muslim extremist attacks in an area of central Nigeria resulted in dozens of deaths and the closure of 10 Baptist churches, including one now used as a mosque, a denominational leader said.
The attacks in Plateau state’s Mangu County by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists included an assault on one village that killed 24 Christians, said Plateau Baptist Conference President Koeleh Kelvin Saleh. The raids drove 500 church members from 10 villages and resulted within the closure of a Baptist church in each community, he said.
“One of the church worship places within the affected Christian communities was converted right into a mosque by the Muslim Fulani herdsmen who took over three communities,” Pastor Saleh told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
An attack by herdsmen in Kantoma village on May 16 resulted within the slaughter of 24 members of Bethel Baptist Church, including Pastor Mangmwos Tangshak Daniel, while nine members of a Baptist church in Jwak Maitumbi village were killed, Pastor Saleh said.
“The sad thing is that, we did not have a spot to bury the corpses of our church members killed within the Kantoma attack, and so corpses were dumped in a mining pit,” he said.
Officials feared that burying so many mutilated bodies would result in further security threats, so church leader arranged for a mass burial in a neighboring area, he said.
“An understanding was brokered with the Mararaban Kantoma community, which is of one other local government area, for these bodies to buried there,” Pastor Saleh said. “Nobody was able to release his land for such, and the truth is the bodies littered the bottom from morning to evening, and so once they searched and located a mining pit, an agreement was brokered with the community to push the bodies into the mining pit.”
The burial of Pastor Daniel’s body was carried out individually afterward, “in order that it may be used as a contact from his family to other families who hadn’t the chance to offer the Christian rites of burial to their relations, because they were just pushed right into a mining pit,” he said.
“The mass burial was undertaken under tight security watch. It’s so pathetic that while the burial was ongoing, the Muslim Fulani herdsmen were shooting at Christians on the burial site,” he added. “The presence of police personnel who were on the burial site helped, because additionally they fired warning shots, which halted the attacks from the herdsmen.”
The burial was accomplished hurriedly due to herdsmen shootings, Pastor Saleh said.
“The Christians there lost rather a lot; the church was destroyed, and there is no single house standing in Kantoma – all houses of Christians have been destroyed,” he said. “It’s one among the communities where we had the biggest Baptist church. The ruins of the community have been taken over by the herdsmen who now use the place to graze their cattle.”
The herdsmen have also stolen windows and doors from destroyed homes, he said.
“The situation in Kantoma is horrible. Christians who survived the attacks have nowhere to return to,” he said. “A number of Christians who attempted to return there to salvage anything they’ll find of their destroyed houses needed to be accompanied by security agents. And this they did hurriedly.”
Accompanied by security agents, Pastor Saleh and other Christian leaders visited the affected areas and discovered that Fulani herdsmen had taken over three Christian communities, he said.
“In fact, one among the church buildings which served as a worship hall for Christians has been converted right into a mosque,” he said.
Humanitarian Challenge
The attacks have created a serious humanitarian challenge to try to fulfill the needs of church members scattered to other areas.
“We’ve had an emergency meeting of the Plateau Baptist Conference so as to map out how we’ll find a way to achieve out to the displaced Christians,” Pastor Saleh said. “At the moment other unaffected churches have taken within the displaced Christians, they usually’re accommodated by some families and households.”
The denomination has held emergency fund collections in churches for the displaced, he said.
“We’ve had to do that because many of the victims escaped with nothing except their lives,” Pastor Saleh said. “Right now, we’ve about 75 families hosting the displaced members from the affected communities of their houses here in Jos. There are about 200 displaced people being cared for.”
Baptist churches also raised 2 million naira (2,220USD), which together with a 1 million (1,110USD) naira gift was used to buy food, blankets and mats for greater than 100 displaced people in Mangu town and in other areas.
“We have also gone there and reached out to them with food items and clothing,” he said.
Another center for displaced Baptist members in Barkin Ladi town provides aid to 35 families, he said.
“In Pankshin, the situation there is actually pathetic – those that were displaced had to maneuver into hostels on the Federal College of Education,” Pastor Saleh said.
The 78 displaced people there include members of other denominations resembling the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) and Assemblies of God.
“The Christians in Pankshin are those displaced from the axis of Wokshina, Panyam, and Gindiri areas,” he said, adding that the camp there includes 44 children. “They need food, clothing, medical supplies and medicines. The needs are overwhelming, because the 3 million naira we raised is sort of a drop of water in an ocean. We are calling on spirited individuals all around the world to please come over to help us. The sad reality is that no government institution has assisted these people in anyway.”
The displaced hope to return to their communities and rebuild their houses, for which they’ll need roofing sheets and other materials, but that will depend on whether government can restore a secure living environment, he said.
“We’ve never as a church had it this bad in Plateau state,” Pastor Saleh said. “The current attacks in Plateau state in the agricultural communities have affected the Baptist church immensely.”
Nigeria remained the deadliest place on the earth to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for his or her faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, in keeping with Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report. More kidnappings of Christians than in every other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.
Nigeria was also the third highest country in variety of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings resembling hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, in keeping with the report.
In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, because it was within the previous yr.
Numbering within the tens of millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise a whole bunch of clans of many alternative lineages who don’t 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 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable technique to Boko Haram and ISWAP and display a transparent intent to focus on Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they consider 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.
