Ongoing conflict between Fulani herdsmen and Christian villagers in Nigeria has led to further deaths, with 36 reportedly killed in weekend attacks by the Fulani.
The Catholic Makirdi Diocese, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt area, told Aid to the Church in Need that as well as the killings, nine people were injured and two abducted.
Ori Hope Emmanuel of Makurdi Diocese’s Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace said, “On the evening of his return from a memorial service held in honour of two Catholic priests killed in 2018, Father Solomon Atongo of Jimba Parish, Makurdi Diocese, was shot in the left leg by armed assailants identified as Fulani-Jihadists.
“The two passengers accompanying him were abducted by the attackers. Father Atongo is currently receiving medical treatment.”
A farmer who had just finished his work for the day was also killed by the Jihadists.
Attacks of this kind are becoming increasingly common in the region, especially during Christian festivals like Easter and Christmas. Earlier this year, one Nigerian bishop told the British House of Lords that militant attacks at Christmas were becoming “customary” in the country.
In many cases the security services do nothing, even when they have advance warning that an attack is coming.
The latest attacks are a case in point. Father Oliver Ortese, Chairman of the international Advisory Board for Makurdi Diocese, said, “There is a military post where the Nigerian army personnel are kept by the government where this incident happened.
“This has left many questions on our minds? Were the soldiers [a]sleep while these shootings by several Fulani are going on?”
The most bloody attack of the weekend claimed 20 lives, when the militants began firing indiscriminately into civilians. The youngest known fatality was a two-year-old child, killed in a separate attack in Yelewata Village, together with an older brother and the child's father.
Father Oliver Ortese added, “They are creating humanitarian crises as those who survive are moved into camps where they become beggars to eek out a living. You cannot imagine the reality we live in here
“This is horror, this is terror.”
