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.
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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