As media outlets across the world bring you the minute-by-minute updates of the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand, those same outlets have been mostly silent on the recent mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria by muslim herdsmen. Those attacks have resulted in 120 dead and 140 homes burned to the ground.
At least 120 people have been killed by alleged Fulani militant attacks since February in the Kaduna state of Nigeria with the latest attacks on Monday resulting in the deaths of over 50 and the destruction of more than 140 homes.On Monday, 52 people were killed, dozens injured and around 143 homes were destroyed in attacks on the villages of Inkirimi, Dogonnoma and Ungwan Gora in the Maro district of the Kajuru Local Government Area, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.The Monday attack followed an attack on Sunday in the Ungwan Barde village in Kajuru in which 17 people were killed and dozens of homes were burned.In late February, there was another attack in Maro that resulted in the deaths of about 38 Christians and saw homes and a church burned. On Feb. 10, 10 people were killed in an attack in Ungwan Barde as six others were killed in isolated attacks the day before.CSW, a United Nations-recognized NGO that advocates for persecuted Christians worldwide, reports that victims in the attacks on Monday included women and children. Survivors told the nonprofit that the attackers were separated into three groups. One group shot and killed people, the second set fire to buildings, and a third ran after people fleeing the scene.Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List.In 2018 alone, thousands of Christians were killed by militant Fulani herdsmen, leaving some to say that genocide is occurring in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.Kaduna state is not alone in suffering from Fulani violence as other states in the Middle Belt have faced it too.On March 4, Fulani militants in the Benue state reportedly attacked three villages, killing 23 people with bullets and machetes, according to International Christian Concern.CSW is calling on the Nigerian federal government to address the spike in violence in a “decisive and unbiased manner.”“The relentless death and destruction is a sad indictment of the continuing failure by both levels of government to fulfill the primary mandate of protecting all its citizens impartially,” Thomas argued.
These claims are backed up by similar reports on Christian Broadcasting Network and The Guardian Nigeria.
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