Residents in central Nigeria’s Miango District are grieving after Fulani militants reportedly killed three people and burned multiple structures, including a church building.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), the village of Ariri was overcome with chaos early Monday after the Islamist extremists torched 25 homes and 40 barns.
The village community church, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) was also set on fire.
ICC reports that the militants caused significant damage to the community before security personnel arrived.
“The Fulani killed my father and brother during the attack,” a resident said. “My neighbor was also killed, and my sister sustained a gunshot wound.”
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Sadly, Fulani militants attacked the same village four years ago, killing 13 people and leaving many displaced.
Monday’s brazen raid on Ariri by the extremists occurred just days after several other attacks took place.
On April 3, a group of armed men shot at villagers while they attended a festival in Chando-Zirechi, a small town north of the Maxwell Khobe cantonment.
“Ten people were killed and 17 others injured,” said a youth leader.
He noted that 11 others were killed in separate attacks that recently occurred over three days.
“On Monday (March 29), five were killed in Kwall District, on Tuesday (March 30), two were killed in Kpatenvie village near Jebbu Meyango town, and on Thursday (March 31), four were killed at a mining site in Meyango,” the youth leader said.
Robert Ashi, president of Irigwe Development Association, a local tribal association, said 15 houses were also destroyed.
Ashi pointed out that the “Fulani Militia” carried out the attacks.
“The military commander in Plateau State, where these attacks took place, Maj. Gen. Sallau Ali, a Fulani Muslim, was previously accused of collaboration with terrorists. He did not intervene in any of the incidents,” said a local source. “If the people will be killed repeatedly and the government will not show concern, it suggests nothing but complicity,” he added.
The Fulani herdsmen, also known as the Fulani militia, are often radical Muslims who target Christians in their relentless attacks on villages across the West African country.
They were early adopters of Islam, participating in holy wars, or jihads, in the 16th century that established them as a dominant social and economic force in Western Africa, according to WorldWatch Monitor.
As CBN News has reported for the last several years, Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian.
The nation ranks 7 on Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List, with the organization calling the persecution in Nigeria “brutally violent.”
“In much of northern Nigeria, Christians live their lives under the constant threat of attack from Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Fulani militants, and criminals who kidnap and murder with few consequences,” Open Doors said.
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