There have been dozens more Christian deaths in Nigeria’s Benue State.
Morning Star News – ABUJA, Nigeria, September 27th, 2022 Friday (September 23) and Wednesday (September 21), reports said, suspected Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists slaughtered scores of Christians in Benue state, Nigeria.
On Friday (September 23), terrorists reportedly assaulted six largely Christian communities in Togo County, Benue state, killing several people, burning homes and farmland, and plundering for food.
Ukan Kurugh, a local resident, informed Morning Star News via text message that “dozens of Christians had been killed” as a result of the herdsmen’s assaults. Some of the people who survived the herders assaults have been transported to hospitals, but they can’t afford the treatment they desperately need. Some of them need immediate surgical attention, but they just cannot afford the associated costs.
Togo County locals reported attacks on the communities of Tse Ikyem, Tsav, Tse Ijoho, Tse Ikyaan, Anawah, and Mou. On Wednesday, September 21st, the towns of Mou and Mchia in the same county were also assaulted.
Our people have suffered much at the hands of these roving herders,” Kurugh remarked.
Aandohemba Msugh Aondo, Oliver Toryima Chion, Innocent Shinku Ngimsho, Mchivga Utume, Joseph Msugh Aondo Gwa, Bemdou Hundu, Luther Mchivga, Sunter Achiwan, Aondohemba Msughve, Hemhsnger Teryuega, Japheth Kwaghaondo Pinega, and Vihishima Mbanomso were among the
Joseph Anawa, a prominent local figure, has verified the Friday assault on the six communities. Herdsmen and other terrorists have been relentlessly attacking Christians in Benue State, according to a press statement released by the chapter chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Rev. Akpen Leva.
The “unprovoked assaults on Christians in Benue state by armed herdsmen and terrorists” continue, Leva stated. These assaults are intended to murder helpless Christians and drive them from their homes.
He said that many clergy and religious leaders were killed in the violence.
In response to the violence, Leva stated, “We condemn in harsh terms these unjustified assaults and loss of life in these impacted Christian villages and urge on security services to rise to the challenge in order to restrict the operations of these bloodthirsty herders.”
According to Catherine Anene, a spokeswoman for the Benue State Police Command, the Divisional Police officer of Logo notified authorities of the assaults.
The incident has been contained with the help of our employees, she stated.
Fifteen Christians were murdered.
The locals claim that on September 21st, suspected herdsmen and other terrorists attacked two villages in the same county, killing 15 Christians and wounding another 15.
At about midnight, settlements inhabited mostly by Christians in the Mou and Mchia regions were assaulted. Peter Terseer, a local, claims that 12 Christians were slain by Muslim Fulani herders in the community of Mchia.
Terseer informed Morning Star News through text message, “in addition to the 12 Christians who died in Mchia village, eight more Christians were wounded during the assault.” They’re now receiving care at Anyiin Medical Center.
James Akiga, a resident of Mou village, reported that three Christians were killed and seven were injured in an assault by a “gang of terrorists and herders.”
“The victims had gunshot wounds and machete slashes,” Akiga texted to Morning Star News.
In a press release issued on Wednesday (September 21) at about midnight, Paul Hemba, Benue state’s special advisor on security affairs, revealed that 12 Christians had been slain in Mchia village and three in Mou village. Also, he verified that 15 Christians were hurt during the attacks.
The terrorists and herders “also assaulted several other Christian settlements in Guma Local Government Area on the night of Wednesday, September 21,” Hemba claimed, “but they were defeated by security personnel who were sent there.” There were no casualties or injuries reported from the Guma assaults.
Local military officials have acknowledged the strikes in the Logo and Guma regions.
Major General Kevin Aligbe issued a statement saying, “Our forces are controlling the situation in Logo.” “Some assaults had been occuring near that region before today, which caused us to execute a weeklong operation there around two weeks ago,” the statement said. Every three to four days, these terrorists have slain two to four individuals. The majority of the time, we heard that bandits assaulted and then fled.
According to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report, from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021, 4,650 Christians were murdered because of their beliefs in Nigeria, making it the country with the highest number of Christian deaths worldwide. Furthermore, the WWL research found that Nigeria had the largest number of kidnappings of Christians, with over 2,500 reported, compared to only 990 the year before.
The research found that Nigeria had the second-highest number of church attacks, behind China, with 470.
A rise from No. 9 to No. 7 on the World Watch List of the 10 nations where it is hardest to be a Christian in 2022 is notable.
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