Fifteen Killed in Attacks on Nigeria’s Christians

June 12, 2018

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At least 15 Christians were killed in a spate of violent attacks by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Benue state last week.

Gangs of militant herdsmen were blamed for fresh strikes on several villages in the Guma and Logo districts between June 4 and June 6.

On 4 June, two people were killed at Mbawa near Yelwata. Eight people attending a memorial service were killed and several others wounded during a night strike on the village of Tse Ishav, near Guma, at 3 a.m. on 6 June, reportedly by the same armed men.

Fulani herdsmen are waging a campaign of violence against Christian farming communities in Nigeria. The country has a mixed agrarian economy with Christian farmers coming under attack from mainly Muslim nomadic herdsmen

The neighbouring district of Logo was attacked later in the day on 6 June, leaving five people dead across three council wards and many more injured. Two villages, Tse Ngojov and Tse Nyanmkyuma were razed.

The head of Guma’s local government, Anthony Shawon, said the attackers set fire to farms and houses as they left.

Hundreds of Christian farmers have been killed in violent attacks this year, the latest development in ongoing violence by Fulani herdsmen to set fire to villages and seize farmland. Barnabas reported how 16 Christians were murdered in a gun attack on 23 April when a gang of violent herdsmen attacked a church in Gwer, Benue State, before setting fire to 50 houses. It followed the killing of ten Christian farmers in Guma on 19 April.

https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/15-killed-in-clashes-in-central-nigeria-20180607

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