For information about Orthodox Christianity in Nigeria, see here.
For previous coverage of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria from ChristianPersecution.com, see here.
“Terrorists Kill 11 Christians in Plateau State, Nigeria,” Morning Star News, October 4, 2023:
ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Sunday (Oct. 1) killed eight Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria, and wounded five others, sources said.
The assailants attacked Du village, in Bassa County’s Kwall District, with two children among those slain and the wounded requiring hospital treatment, said Davidson Malison, spokesman of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), in a press statement.
“The Fulani militias stormed the community at about 8:10 p.m., positioned themselves and sprayed bullets on the bodies of innocent Christians who were asleep,” Malison said. “To prove the maximum act of wickedness by these terrorists, children of 9 and 11 years were among those killed.”
He called on the Nigerian government to urgently task security personnel to arrest the assailants.
“The terrorists are known to the Nigerian government, and they are not ghosts nor invisible,” he said. “They had made threatening statements particularly to our communities in recent past.”
He identified those slaughtered as Shara Danjuma, 9; Williams Danjuma, 11; Wala Boyi, 17; Yohanna Zehwhie, 35; Avu Goji,18; Tingwie Nko, 38; Afiniki Sunday, 25; and Gani Doglas, 28. Wounded were Tini Thomas, 14; Rondo Peter, 18; Boma Sunday, 45; Geoffrey David, 19; and Joseph Monday, 25.
“We’re not only saddened by this unfortunate development and occurrence but completely depressed and brokenhearted, knowing fully how peaceful and hospitable Christians have lived with their Muslim neighbors in Plateau state,” Malison said.
The attack has enveloped the local community in “tears, sorrow and sadness,” he said.
“This is no doubt the continuation of destruction of lives and the ceaseless attempts to annihilate Christians of Rigwe ethnic extraction by terrorists and armed herdsmen has kept on persisting,” he said.
In Plateau state’s Atuhun Panyam village, Mangu County, three Christians were killed on Sept. 27, area residents said. Area community leaders Longse Jokle and Joshua Gufwam in a press statement expressed sadness over continued attacks on Christians in Plateau state….
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not 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 strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
