(ProsperNews.net) – More than 140 people were shot dead by gunmen in remote Nigerian villages over Christmas. The attacks took place on the weekend that included Christmas Eve and focused on specific communities in the state of Plateau in the north of the country. The assailants set houses on fire, and one local official said he had counted “not less than 100 bodies” in one town. “It has been a very terrifying Christmas for us here in Plateau,” he said.
Human rights group Amnesty International confirmed that at least 140 deaths were recorded in the primarily Christian towns of Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi. Locals said national authorities did not answer their cries for help, and so far, no group has been identified as the aggressor. The Fulani tribe, who are known to engage in kidnappings and killings for profit, are thought to be responsible. Inter-religious conflict may also be blameworthy, according to some reports.
Long-standing animosity between Muslim Fulani and Christian herders has raged in the region for decades, and access to land and resources has worsened the conflict recently.
The Vatican reported in April 2023 that Muslims have murdered more than 50,000 Christians in Nigeria over the past 14 years. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, based in the African nation, wrote that Christians are persecuted by “state and non-state actors,” resulting in the destruction of 12,000 churches and more than 2,000 Christian schools over the same period.
The organization furthermore warned that Muslim Fulani groups had joined with other Islamist organizations in Nigeria to mount attacks that have displaced millions. “About 5 million Christians have been displaced and forced into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps within Nigeria and refugee camps,” the report claims.
A British Christian group states that while Christians are persecuted globally, often by Muslims, Nigeria is the most dangerous nation for believers in Christ; 80% of the religious murders of Christians took place in Nigeria in 2021.
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