Reports say more than 200 Christians in Nigeria were killed in recent attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen. This prompted various groups to call on the international community to admit that violence is escalating in the west African nation.
The Christian Association of Nigeria issued a statement condemning the terror attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. Two weeks ago, 238 people were brutally killed in a village and churches were destroyed. Gatestone Institute reports that more than 6,000 Christians, mostly women and children, were killed in just six months this year.
There is no doubt that the sole purpose of these attacks is aimed at ethnic cleansing, land grabbing and forceful ejection of the Christian natives from their ancestral land and heritage. —Christian Association of Nigeria
“There is no doubt that the sole purpose of these attacks is aimed at ethnic cleansing, land grabbing and forceful ejection of the Christian natives from their ancestral land and heritage,” said the Christian Association.
Release International, an inter-denominational Christian ministry, expressed concern over the persecution against Nigerian Christians.
In an interview with Premier, spokesman Andre Boyd claimed that the attacks aim to displace thousands of people. “The interests that it serves is [sic] the interests of those who want to see the ethnic and religious cleansing of certain tribes, and the Christian faith from the north of Nigeria.”
Paul Robinson from Release International added that, “When claims are raised of cattle rustling, militants launch coordinated attacks on Christian villages and gun down unarmed men, women and children.” The violence caused the displacement of Christians “which the government seems unable or unwilling to halt.”
Meantime, Emmanuel Ogebe, an international human rights advocate, said Nigeria is “the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
According to African online newspaper, Signal, Ogebe also called the attacks as “genocide,” following reports of how the herdsmen massacred the Christians in a village. “They are trying to displace the Christians, they are trying to possess their land and they are trying to impose their religion on the so-called infidels and pagans who they consider Christians to be.”
Ogebe joins other Christian groups in calling for the Nigerian government and the leaders of other nations to help the persecuted Christians.
Sources:
Gatestone Institute
Premier
Signal
