 At least 25 Christians were killed by militant Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists in attacks on villages in Plateau state, Nigeria, on Wednesday, local residents said.
Christian Daily International-Morning Star News (CDI-MSN) reported residents as saying that thousands of people were displaced in the attacks in Mangu County that had begun on Monday.
Hosea Ibrahim, a local villager, told CDI-MSN in a text message: ‘The invaders surrounded the village at about midnight, and they shot at anyone they sighted. Twenty-five Christians who were mostly women and children were killed during the attack.’
Just this week our Nigerian partner, Stefanos Foundation, held a press conference in which it outlined the brutal persecution of Christians in the country, particularly Plateau state, during the Christmas period.
Sadly it looks like the killing and kidnapping of believers have continued unabated into the new year, with reports of many dead in Kaduna state also.
Stefanos said that for last year alone it recorded 686 instances of violence from 34 states across the country. ‘From these attacks, we recorded 4,357 dead and 1,791 abducted, yet this does not even show all the instances that have taken place, as many may have been unreported.’
Please continue to pray as a matter of urgency for persecuted believers in Nigeria. There are prayer points at the end of this email to guide you.
CDI-MSN reported that, according to its sources, the governor of Kaduna state met church leaders after the pace of terrorist killings since September increased in a Christian area, including 25 people who lost their lives in the first two weeks of January.
James Bitrus, Christian leader of the Dnata chiefdom in predominantly Christian Kagarko County in southern Kaduna state, said Islamist terrorists had killed more than 100 believers in the area during the past four months. On top of that he said that since November ‘many of our people have been forced to flee our communities; farmers are not able to go to their farms’.
More than 100 Christians were also kidnapped in the first part of January, he said.
CDI-MSN sources claimed that militant Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists had killed 10 Christians in three villages in the central state of Benue on January 7.
The gunmen separated into three groups and attacked villages in Logo County simultaneously at about 8.30pm, residents said. ‘The terrorists invaded as the villagers were sleeping in their houses,’ Terlumun Unande texted CDI-MSN. ‘[They] moved from house to house, shot and killed 10 Christians, while scores were injured. Many more were displaced from the three villages as they had to flee in order to escape.’
Three days later in Benue Fulani herdsmen and other militants are understood to have kidnapped four Christians including a pastor, Rev Haanongon Gideon, on January 13.
PRAYER
- Pray for strength for Christians in Nigeria who have suffered immense persecution at the hands of terrorists for many years
- Ask God to help all those bereaved, injured or traumatised by these latest acts of terror and to provide for those who have been displaced by the violence
- Pray that the perpetrators would come to repentance and put down their weapons
- Pray that the international community and the worldwide media would wake up to the terrible violence that is being perpetrated against Christians in Nigeria
- Ask God to strengthen our partners as they work to help all those affected by these attacks and thank God for their willingness to put their own lives at risk to help the persecuted
- Pray that the Nigerian authorities would finally take sufficient action to protect vulnerable Christians
- Pray that governments around the world would use their influence to help to bring an end to the decades-old violence against Christians
- Pray that Rev Haanongon Gideon, those kidnapped with him and all those who have been abducted in the past and still held would be freed.
(Sources: Christian Daily International-Morning Star News; Stefanos Foundation)
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