Pastor in Nigeria brutally murdered by machete-wielding Muslims

Chiqui Guyjoco Friday, July 08, 2016

Machete-wielding Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed a pastor in Nigeria's Nasarawa state June 30 while the pastor was working at his farm, according to reports.

The leader of the displaced Fulani herdsmen Haruna Usman is pictured during an exclusive interview with Reuters in Barkin Kogi, Zango Kataf, Kaduna State March 22, 2014. Picture taken March 22, 2014. | REUTERS/AFOLABI SOTUNDE

The Rev. Zakariya Joseph Kurah of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Lafia, Nasarawa became the latest victim of the Fulani herdsmen. A church staff member, identified only as Moses, reported that one of those who was with the late pastor said that Kurah had tried to run away and hide from the two attackers but they caught up with him and murdered him with their machetes. The killers also took away the pastor's phone handset.

"We asked what type of people carried out the murder of the pastor, and the person said the killers were two Fulani Muslims," Moses told Morning Star News.

The former secretary of the ECWA's Lafia District Church Council, Rev. Silas Thomas, also pointed to the Fulani herdsmen for the pastor's murder. He also confirmed that the burial took place in the late pastor's hometown of Zonkwa, Kaduna on Tuesday, July 5.

"He was a pastor with peaceful disposition," Rev. Thomas said. "He was one of the pastors I worked with while I served as the secretary of ECWA Lafia District Church Council."

A Twitter user who identified himself as Sam, the late pastor's nephew, condemned the killing of his uncle by the Fulani herdsmen in Obi LGA.

"No one is saying anything about the clandestine killings by Fulani herdsmen happening almost every day," tweeted Sam in a series of posts. "Does a life of a Nigerian mean anything to our government?"

Earlier in May, church leaders and human rights groups expressed their fear that the incessant attacks by the Fulani herdsmen could set off the country in a state of civil war.

The archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma said at a press conference on April 26 that war may be inevitable if such attacks won't be thwarted.

He said, "It is either Nigeria must be one, or we disintegrate and go our ways."