More than 80 Christians have been killed in Nigeria this month, watchdog group says
More than 80 Christians have been killed by Fulani militants in Nigeria's Benue State since Jan. 1, less than two months after the state approved a bill aiming to prevent further violence in the region.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), most of the attacks took place in Logo and Guma counties. More than 50 were killed in Logo in just the first week of the new year, while more than 30 were killed in Guma.
The attacks were said to be carried out by Fulani herdsmen, nomadic Muslims who graze their cattle across the country. Benue State had enacted an anti-open grazing bill in an attempt to prevent further violence, but ICC said that the effort has "failed thus far."
Usman Ngelzerma, the secretary-general of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, asserted that the new bill is the reason for the attacks.
"We don't wish for the crisis to continue but let us give it (the law) another look. We don't like the killing; we will never condone the killing of people. give the farmers their rights, but consider the pastoralists too," he said.
A man identified only as Vershima shared how the armed Fulani militants ambushed him and several others after he was contacted by some people who were attempting to flee from Guma.
"On our way out of Guma at about 7:00 p.m., we were ambushed by a company of armed Fulani herdsmen who opened fire on us, killing three of the people I was conveying and injuring me," said Vershima, who was shot in the chest and left for dead.
Peter, a local cattle guard, suggested that he knew the assailants, saying they "were people I had interfaced with in that community."
"I got up and called them by their names and tried to wrestle the machete they had out of their hands, but to no avail. I was overpowered and they began to cut me," he recounted.
The Rev. Musa Asake, the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), delivered a major address last week, expressing concern about the continued attacks on believers in Nigeria, both at the hands of the Fulani militants and terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram.
He lamented that Benue has been suffering from "horrendous and inhuman attacks" since 2013. He accused the government of not doing enough to protect citizens and in some cases, even collaborating with the herdsmen.
He pointed to the New Year's Day attack in Ilorin, in which the security agents reportedly refused to intervene until three churches were burned. He also mentioned an incident in January 2017, when the Nigerian Air Force bombed a Christian IDP Camp, leaving over 200 refugees dead.
President Muhammadu Buhari had repeatedly stated that he is taking the Fulani attacks very seriously, and that his government is doing all it can to bring them under control.
CAN, however, accused the president of failing to run Nigeria with Democratic values, and said that the Fulani herdsmen have enjoyed "unprecedented protection and favoritism" under Buhari's administration to the extent that the militants treat Nigeria as "conquered territory."