Amid a groundswell of domestic and
international condemnation of
unchecked violence by Muslim Fulani
herdsmen in Nigeria, 37 more
Christians were killed in Kaduna state
so far this month, sources said.
Following the slaughter of 33
Christians in Zangon Kataf County in
early August, Muslim Fulani herdsmen
in Kachia County on Monday (Aug. 17)
killed four Christians and kidnapped
their driver, Danlami Dariya, as their
vehicle made its way from Katul
village, area resident Zephaniah Bature
said.
“Four of the Christians inside the car
were killed instantly,” Bature told
Morning Star News by text message.
“The driver was kidnapped by the
herdsmen, and among those killed are
three men and an old woman.”
Muslim Fulani herdsmen also attacked
Kachia County’s Bugai village on
Sunday (Aug. 16), according to area
resident Mamman Danbaba.
“There was yet another attack by
Fulani herdsmen at about 8 p.m.”
Danbaba said by text message. “Many
lives were lost, and many Christians
were injured. Houses and properties
burned.”
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 recent report .
“They adopt a comparable strategy to
Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State
West Africa Province] and demonstrate
a clear intent to target Christians and
potent symbols of Christian identity,”
the APPG report states.
Fulani herdsmen have increasingly
adopted ideology and methods similar
to Islamic extremist groups like Boko
Haram, and some come from outside
Nigeria, This Day ’s Akin Osuntokun
wrote in an Aug. 14 column for the
Nigerian news outlet.
“Today, a new breed of herdsman has
emerged: an aggressive and
murderous terrorist bearing
sophisticated firearms such as AK-47s
and even rocket launchers,” Osuntokun
wrote. “And they become the mobile
avant-garde army of political Islam in
Nigeria. Given the country’s porous
borders, many of them are recent
immigrants from neighboring countries.
Herdsmen from Niger, Chad and Mali
can walk across the border and
immediately lay claim to all the
sacrosanct rights appertaining to bona
fide Nigerian nationals.”
Luka Binniyat, spokesman of the
Southern Kaduna People’s Union
(SOKAPU), reported that Muslim Fulani
herdsmen killed 33 Christians in five
villages of Zangon Kataf County on
Aug. 5.
“The armed Fulani herdsmen stormed
Apiashyim and Kibori villages. They lay
siege to Apyaishyim, killing, looting and
burning houses. In the wake of the
cruelty, they left six Christians dead
and 20 houses burnt,” Binniyat said in
a press statement. “In nearby Kibori
village, seven Christians were killed by
the marauding Fulani herdsmen.”
They struck Atakmawei village as
residents were sleeping late at night,
killing 12 Christians and burning 10
houses, and in Apyiako village they
also burned homes and killed three
Christians, he said.
“At the same time, Magamiya village
was also attacked, and five Christians
were killed and seven houses burnt,”
Binniyat said. “The herdsmen carried
out the attacks between 11 p.m. and 4
a.m. and left unchallenged.”
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said
they believe herdsmen attacks on
Christian communities in Nigeria’s
Middle Belt are inspired by their desire
to forcefully take over Christians’ lands
and impose Islam as desertification
has made it difficult for them to
sustain their herds.
The APPG report noted that tribal
loyalties cannot be overlooked.
“In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani,
was elected president of Nigeria,” the
group reported. “He has done virtually
nothing to address the behavior of his
fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and
in the south of the country.”
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 12 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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