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Unchecked slaughter of Christians in Nigeria continues

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The unchecked slaughter of Christians in Nigeria is intensifying as thirty-seven more people were murdered by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Kaduna state this month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

The latest killings follow the reported murders of 33 Christians in Zangon Kataf County by Fulani Herdsmen in early August. The herdsmen also attacked Kachia County’s Bugai village on August 16. In the latter attack, resident Mamman Danbaba told MSN: “Many lives were lost, and many Christians were injured. Houses and properties burned.” On August 17, Muslim Fulani herdsmen went on to kill four Christians in Kachia County. During this attack, the killers also kidnapped the victims’ driver Danlami Dariya, MSN source and area resident Zephaniah Bature said.

According to MSN, there are millions of Muslim Fulani living all over Nigeria and the Sahel. They belong to hundreds of clans and lineages, and not all of them are extremists. However, those that hold extremist views hold to radical Islamist ideology. In a recent report, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted of extremist Fulani that: “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.” Christian leaders in Nigeria are understood to believe the herdsmen are intent on forcing Christians off their lands in order to take over and impose Islam on the area, MSN reports.

In a report, the APPG has emphasized that tribal loyalty has resulted in the attacks by Fulani herdsmen on Christians going unchecked. “In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was elected president of Nigeria. He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country,” APPG said.

Christian Solidarity International issued a genocide warning for Nigeria on January 30 and has called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against “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.’”