According to media outlet Morning Star News, Fulani militants killed more than 70 Christians last week in a village in central Nigeria.
The slaughter prompted state officials to acknowledge that the lack of government protection means citizens must defend themselves.
According to Terumbur Kartyo, the chairman of the Ukum Local Government Council in Benue State, “In just two days, over 70 Christians were killed by Fulani militants in the Gbeji community in our local government area.”
Kartyo continued, sharing that the Fulani militants also shot and injured more than 100 Christians in the villages of Udei and Yelewata, displacing thousands more who fled for their lives.
According to a local, “About 36 corpses of some of the victims have so far been recovered and taken to the mortuary.”
Benue state government officials visited the area after the attacks. They stated that since the federal government is unable to stop the violence, it ought to provide high-powered arms to citizens’ defence groups.
“We are standing on our request for the federal government to give us a licence for our Volunteer Guards to bear AK-47s and other sophisticated weapons,” said Secretary to the State Government Anthony Ijohor, representing Benue Governor Samuel Ortom. “The security agencies have been overstretched, and our people have to defend themselves.”
Radicalised Fulani militants, who belong to the largely nomadic Fulani herding communities found mostly in northern Nigeria, pose threats to Christian farming villages. Militants often attack Christians and burn their farms, especially in more rural communities.
Please pray for those suffering from the violence in Nigeria.
Source: International Christian Concern, Morning Star News
Please Pray
Pray for the victims’ families and for the quick recovery of all those injured in the attack. Pray that God will provide for the thousands of Nigerian Christians who have been displaced by these violent attacks.
Pray that Nigeria’s government will take action to prevent further violence.
Pray for the courage and strengthening of other Christian communities across Nigeria who are suffering from persecution.