JOS, Nigeria, April 8, 2020 (Morning Star News) – People displaced by Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacks in Kaduna state, Nigeria that killed 60 Christians in March are in dire need of relief aid, a community leader said.
“We have a chronicle of the humongous losses suffered by these law-abiding Christians in the hands of herdsmen trying to forcefully eject them and occupy their lands while the government watches on,” Luka Binniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), said in a statement. “These wanton cruelties on these native Christian communities have been ongoing without let-up since Jan. 6 with great casualties in human lives and material loses.”
Binniyat said the attacks have forced women, children and the elderly to run into the wilderness to escape rampaging herdsmen, adding to the thousands displaced by previous violence.
“Kugosi and Kajari communities have been deserted, with scores of Christian villagers wandering in the bush with no food or water,” he said. “We therefore, call on all well-meaning individuals, groups and corporate entities to come to the aid of these displaced persons. They are in dire need of food, medical attention and temporary shelter.”
Binniyat said the killings occurred in Chikun and Jema’a counties.
At least 25 Christians were killed in March 31 herdsmen attacks on three communities, while 11 others were killed in another village, he said. Among the slain were six Christians in Guruku village; three Chrisitans in Kuduru village – Hassana Bala, Jamilu Hassan and Halima Bala – and Haliru Nawela and Kure Dogonyaro were also injured during the attack, according to Binniyat.
The herdsmen attacked Jagindi village on March 30, killing two Christians, Musa Barde and his brother Danlami Barde, he said. On March 26, herdsmen killed three Christians in Kuduru village.
“This is aside from three others killed in Kugosi and Kajari villages,” he said.
In text-messages to Morning Star News, residents confirmed attacks on eight predominantly Christian communities during the period: Guruku, Kuduru, Kugosi, Kajari, Unguwar Dorowa, Bakira, Manini, and Katarma villages.
“On March 25, three Christians were killed by Fulani terrorists at 11:54 p.m. in Adara villages of Unguwar Dorowa and Bakira, Maro ward, in Kajuru,” area resident Ishaya Onnusim told Morning Star News by text message. “Many other Christians were also seriously injured during the attack.”
Binniyat added that on March 18 in Chikun County, herdsmen killed three Christians in the Kugosi and Kajari communities.
“On March 17, the herdsmen came on motorcycles around 8 p.m. and started shooting at anything at sight” in Manini village, Chikun County, Binniyat said. They killed two Christians, 50-year-old Markus Danjuma and Sharana Danjuma, 42, he said.
“And on March 16, three Christians were killed in Katarma village, in Chikun Local Government Area. In three days, within that period at least seven Christians were killed by these herdsmen.”
On Jan. 30 Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to “a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as ‘infidels’ by Islamist militants in the country’s north and middle belt regions.’”
Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.
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Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.
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