Fulani herdsmen killed six Christians on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 1-2) in Benue state, Nigeria after slaughtering 15 Christians in a close-by village two days prior, sources said.
In Ayilomo, a predominantly Christian village in Logo County, Fulani herdsmen attacked at about 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 1), said area resident Terwase Avande.
“Fulani herdsmen invaded the community and started 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.”
Paul Adetsav, a community leader in Ayilomo, said residents can not are likely to their farms due to attacks.
“The Fulani herdsmen keep attacking us almost on a every day basis, killing Christians at will and igniting fire on our homes 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 turn out to be an epidemic, killing us and our youngsters since we have now nothing to eat.”
More than 400,000 members of the community have been displaced because of this of incessant attacks, Adetsav said.
On Oct. 30 in Anyiin village, also in Logo County, herdsmen killed 15 Christians, said area resident Joe Iormumbe. Johnson Kwar, one other village resident, said the raid went from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Joseph Anawah, a community leader within the Ayiin area, identified among the Christians killed as Orihundu Ati, Zaki Mbatern, Tordoo Suswam, Uyange Chembe and John Chembe.
Adegwa Uba, one other resident of the realm, pleaded for the Nigerian government to act urgently to save lots of lives.
“We beg the world to listen to 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 kids, women and elderly are slaughtered like animals.”
Homes, livelihoods and full communities are under threat, he said.
“Security forces collect bodies but fail to forestall 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.”
He called on the federal government to take immediate motion to guard people, asked security forces to prioritize prevention and prosecution and appealed to the international community to intervene and lend support.
“We are dying, please hear our cry,” Uba said.
Clement Ukav, chairman of the Logo Local Government Area Council, said the federal government was doing all the pieces possible to stop the violence.
“We are sad that our people over time have been attacked at various times by Fulani herdsmen, but I can assure that all the pieces that’s needed to halt such attacks might be done by the federal government,” Ukav said.
Police spokesperson Catherine Anene told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that officers had received reports of attacks within the Logo area, and that security agents had been deployed to the realm.
Nigeria remained the deadliest place on this planet 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 some 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 similar to 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.
Catholic, Anglican priests kidnapped
In southern Nigeria, a Catholic priest was kidnapped in Imo state on Tuesday (Nov. 5). This followed the kidnapping of one other Catholic priest in Edo state on Oct. 27 – freed on Wednesday (Nov. 6) – and the kidnapping of an Anglican priest in Anambra state on Oct. 26.
The Rev. Emmanuel Azubuike, parish priest of St. Theresa’s Catholic Parish in Obollo town, Isiala Mbano County in Imo state, southeast Nigeria, was kidnapped on Tuesday (Nov. 5) by armed gunmen at about 6 p.m. as he was coming back from a pastoral visit to some villages.
Azubuike was ambushed and kidnapped along a highway, based on an announcement by the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe.
“We solicit your fervent prayers that he may come to us secure and sound,” the Rev. Princewill Iwuanyanwu, chancellor and secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, said within the statement.
In Edo state, southwest Nigeria, Catholic priest Thomas Oyode was kidnapped by gunmen at about 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 from the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, Ivhianokpodi-Agenebode, Etsako East County, where he was rector, based on a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Auchi.
Oyode was released on Wednesday (Nov. 6) near Ajaokuta, Kogi state, based on the Rev. Peter Egielewa, spokesman for the Diocese of Auchi. The kidnappers had demanded 200 million naira ($119,673 USD) in ransom, but terms of his release weren’t disclosed.
In Anambra state, southeast Nigeria, Anglican priest Ven David Arinze Ajaefobi was kidnapped by gunmen on Oct. 26, sources said. Ajaefobi was kidnapped at the doorway of his St. James’ Anglican Church, Awkuzu, Oyi County, at about 9 p.m., area resident Chukwudi Nwankwor said.
Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesman for Anambra State Police Command, said officers were investigating.
