Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Sunday Oct. 1 killed eight Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria, and wounded five others, sources said.
The assailants attacked Du village, in Bassa County's Kwall District, with two children among those slain and the wounded requiring hospital treatment, said Davidson Malison, spokesman of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), in a press statement.
"The Fulani militias stormed the community at about 8:10 p.m., positioned themselves and sprayed bullets on the bodies of innocent Christians who were asleep," Malison said. "To prove the maximum act of wickedness by these terrorists, children of 9 and 11 years were among those killed."
He called on the Nigerian government to urgently task security personnel to arrest the assailants.
"The terrorists are known to the Nigerian government, and they are not ghosts nor invisible," he said. "They had made threatening statements particularly to our communities in recent past."
He identified those slaughtered as Shara Danjuma, 9; Williams Danjuma, 11; Wala Boyi, 17; Yohanna Zehwhie, 35; Avu Goji,18; Tingwie Nko, 38; Afiniki Sunday, 25; and Gani Doglas, 28. Wounded were Tini Thomas, 14; Rondo Peter, 18; Boma Sunday, 45; Geoffrey David, 19; and Joseph Monday, 25.
"We're not only saddened by this unfortunate development and occurrence but completely depressed and brokenhearted, knowing fully how peaceful and hospitable Christians have lived with their Muslim neighbors in Plateau state," Malison said.
The attack has enveloped the local community in "tears, sorrow and sadness," he said.
"This is no doubt the continuation of destruction of lives and the ceaseless attempts to annihilate Christians of Rigwe ethnic extraction by terrorists and armed herdsmen has kept on persisting," he said.
In Plateau state's Atuhun Panyam village, Mangu County, three Christians were killed on Sept. 27, area residents said. Area community leaders Longse Jokle and Joshua Gufwam in a press statement expressed sadness over continued attacks on Christians in Plateau state.
"We mourn the brutal killing of three of our people in Atuhun Panyam: Panshak Peter, Ishaku Zumuk and Yakubu Sokyes, by Fulani militias; all whose corpses have been recovered from their farms where they were attacked," Jokle and Gufwam said. "They have been buried in their respective villages which span into Pushit District."
Jokle and Gufwam, president and secretary respectively of the Panyam District Development Association, called on the country's security agencies to halt attacks on Christians in Plateau state.
"We condemn the killing of the three Christian farmers and call on security agencies to go after the killers," they said.
