Fulani herdsmen on Sunday raided a village in southern Kaduna state, Nigeria, killing six Christians, area residents said.
Numerous herdsmen raided predominantly Christian Ambe village, Sanga County, at about midnight as residents were sleeping, said Zachariah Sanga.
“They were armed with deadly weapons like guns, machetes, and cudgels,” Sanga told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The herdsmen on arrival shot into houses and at anyone they sighted.”
Along with the six Christians slain, eight others were also wounded, he said.
Daniel Amos, a member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, confirmed in a press statement on Monday (May 6) that six innocent people were killed, and that eight others were wounded and receiving medical treatment.
“I strongly condemn this heinous act, which is one other try to destabilize the peace and security in my constituency and our dear state,” Amos said. “It is unacceptable that our people cannot live in peace without fear of being attacked by these criminal elements.”
The legislator called on Nigeria’s security agencies to make end the violence that threatens the existence of Christians in Kaduna state.
“I also call on the safety agencies to act swiftly to apprehend the perpetrators of this evil act and convey them to justice,” he said. “The safety of our people must remain a top priority. We cannot allow the criminals to proceed to operate with impunity.”
Mansir Hassan, spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, said in a press statement that villagers had apprehended one in all the assailants, and that police were investigating.
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, based on 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 reminiscent of hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, based on 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 exhibit 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.
