The post Christmas massacre in Nigeria – death toll nears 200, attacks continue appeared first on Anglican Mainstream. By Andrew Boyd, Release International. The death toll in the Nigeria Christmas massacre has now risen to almost 200. And more...
The post Christmas massacre in Nigeria – death toll nears 200, attacks continue appeared first on Anglican Mainstream.
By Andrew Boyd, Release International.
The death toll in the Nigeria Christmas massacre has now risen to almost 200. And more bodies are still being discovered, according to partners of Release International, which supports persecuted Christians around the world.
Even as attempts continue to recover the bodies, Release International has been told of another attack by Fulani militia on the same area on December 28, and has received intelligence of plans for further attacks in Plateau State, central Nigeria.
‘Christmas terror’
‘These latest attacks were timed to bring terror to Christians at Christmas,’ says Paul Robinson, CEO of Release International (RI), which supports persecuted Christians around the world.
The wide-ranging Christmas assault on more than 80 communities began on December 23 and continued over Christmas. And in the late hours of December 28, Fulani militants again attacked Budel community in Bokkos.
Mercifully, on this occasion, RI partners report that no lives were lost due to the intervention of the security services. The area remains on high alert, as does Pushit in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.
According to press reports, the Christmas attacks drove some 20,000 Nigerians from their homes.
‘Slaughtered’
‘Many people were killed, slaughtered like animals in cold blood,’ Timothy Nuwan, vice president of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) told Agence France Presse (AFP).
‘We had to run for our lives,’ Lucy Joshua told AFP. ‘We didn’t even know where we were running to.’ She lost seven members of her family in the attack.
Partners of Release International say this latest onslaught is the worst massacre in Nigeria since 2018, when Fulani militia slaughtered 235 in coordinated attacks in broadly the same area.
RI has highlighted Nigeria as a country where violence against Christians is set to rise in its newly published 2024 Persecution Trends report.
Targeting Christians
According to US-based Aid to the Church in Need these latest unprovoked attacks were also ‘well-coordinated and deliberate, specifically targeting Christian communities.’
The attackers, again identified as Fulani militia, killed villagers and set on fire their churches, corn stores and clinics. According to ACN, Muslim villagers and their property were left untouched.
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