Source: www.persecution.org
Date: April 19, 2022
Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – An ICC correspondent in Nigeria reported that on the evening of April 11, militant Fulani herders attacked the central Nigerian village of Semaka. They killed five Christians and injured many others. The militants escaped into the night on bikes following the attack.
This attack took place on the same night that extremist Fulani herdsmen also attacked the neighboring villages of Tyotugh and Gaambetiev. Nine people were reported dead in Tyotugh village, with fifteen people killed in Gaambetiev. However, actual numbers are suspected to be higher, as militants may have hidden bodies in the surrounding bush.
The three villages were attacked simultaneously in what seemed to be a coordinated attack. The villagers who survived and those injured labeled their attackers as Fulani herdsmen.
In a gruesome protest against the bloody attacks of April 11, youths from the targeted villages stacked the corpses of over 25 victims of the attack on a nearby road, the Makurdi-Gboko Highway. The blockage, which took place on April 12, led to gridlock as vehicles remained at a standstill for more than 10 hours.
The Fulani, who are majority Muslim, are the world’s largest nomadic ethnic group. While most Fulani live at peace with their neighbors, Militant Fulani, having been radicalized by extreme Islam, have emerged from their people group with Jihadist intent.
Last year, Nigeria earned the distinction of being the country with the world’s worst persecution in ICC’s Persecutor of the Year Awards. Radicalized and armed Islamist Fulani have killed tens of thousands of Christians and left more than three million homeless in a 20-year genocide against them.
“Christian communities in the Middle Belt of Nigeria have effectively suffered a twenty-yearlong genocide,” said ICC President Jeff King. Where is any action? The Nigerian government gives these attacks lip service without any meaningful response. “Where is the outcry? Where is effective action? In Nigeria, the military, the police, and the intelligence agencies are all controlled by Muslims. This, coupled with a twenty-year lack of response by these agencies, should naturally lead to deeper questioning by the world community.
Simply put, the time for cheap talk and platitudes is over. The world is waking up and asking, “Is the Nigerian government complicit in these attacks.” Time will tell, but for this long-time watcher, the decision is in.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for peace and comfort for those who lost loved ones in these attacks. Pray for healing for the injured. Pray for an end to Fulani-led violence in Nigeria.