Page 7 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Apr-Jun 2023 - 122

IA Release International fact-finding team recently returned from Nigeria, where reports suggest more Christians are being killed for their faith than in the rest of the world put together. Yet what we discovered is not a church in despair but one that is overcoming through love and forgiveness, even towards those who have ‘betrayed’ it, writes Andrew Boyd
the bodies of the dead among the ashes.
t was just before Christmas in
Fulani. ‘They burned our houses – everything. They were working
As Channels TV reported: ‘The arrival of the truck carrying the victims’ caskets triggered an outpouring of emotions as relatives and friends wept helplessly.’
Mallagum village, Kaduna state.
But the festive spirit had been
As the coffins were unloaded and placed in a long line, mourners prostrated themselves over the
dampened by rumours that
According to Esther, the soldiers and stage an attack. Fulani together killed 29 people in Heavily armed Fulani militia had her village. Their victims included
Fulani militants were about to together.’
already attacked two other villages Esther’s father- and mother-in-law nearby, killing and injuring the mainly and their adopted 11-yr-old son, Christian residents and burning their Nehemiah Sunday.
‘The military, the police, the government have all failed us’
homes.
caskets containing their loved ones, grieving their lost and crying out for justice.
The people of Mallagum did not
know whether to stay put or to run
for their lives. But many of them took Toma was 80 and too old to run. His reassurance when soldiers turned up wife, Jummai, was 60.
in their military vehicles, as Esther Esther believes Toma was already Nathan recalls: ‘Every day they were dead when his killers set about his
around, going up and down in our body. She cannot imagine why anyone village, and the people said, “They’re However, others have described
‘Hundreds who gathered for the funeral called on the Government and security agencies to stop the attacks before they are completely wiped out,’ reported Channels TV.
would do such a thing.
going to save us.” We were very happy.’ similar attacks, where Fulani militants
The Catholic Bishop of Kanfanchan Diocese, Kaduna, told another Nigerian TV channel, Arise News: ‘The military have failed us, the police have failed us, the Government have failed us.’ The bishop’s own house was destroyed in the attack.
These soldiers said they were hungry, so the villagers gave them food. One was sick and the villagers helped him.
have mutilated the bodies of those they have killed as a grim warning to the Christian villagers to run for their lives and never return.
The villagers had been planning to take the children to a nearby hospital just in case the Fulani came. But the soldiers said, ‘No, don’t go anywhere. Just relax. Nothing will happen to you. We are here to protect you.’
Even so, many of the villagers chose to cling to their homes. So the Fulani returned soon after to drive home their brutal message.
The Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) described the raid on unsuspecting villagers as ‘barbaric’ and a strategy to drive them off their lands.
Esther was relieved. Perhaps now they could settle down to prepare for Christmas.
Attack victim Lukuchi David told Arise News: ‘The gunshots were everywhere. You didn’t know where to run.’
‘The Federal Government and security agencies must not let the killers escape,’ said CAN state chairman Joseph Hayab. ‘Those who commit this evil must be arrested and brought to face justice.’
But at 10am on Sunday, December 18, the villagers realised they had been betrayed. The Fulani attacked. And far from protecting them, the men wearing the uniforms of soldiers joined in the shooting.
‘Everybody ran,’ said Esther. ‘And they burned our houses again.’
And a statement by the South Kaduna Peoples’ Union described the attacks as ‘crimes against humanity’.
‘They were together,’ said Esther. ‘They were mixing.’
‘They killed so many people, and the Government didn’t take any action,’ said Joel Victor, another villager.
It condemned the security forces for failing to protect the villagers: ‘Let it be put on the record that in
More men arrived dressed in military fatigues, but far from rescuing the villagers, they joined in with the
Finally, more soldiers arrived, and this time it was to protect the villagers. The Fulani headed out, leaving blackened walls, twisted roofs, and
Continued overleaf...
‘They shot my father-in-law, Toma, and then they cut him with a knife – his leg and hands.’
By then, according to press reports, this Fulani raid had killed 39 people in several villages in southern Kaduna.
The villagers buried their dead
in a mass grave three days before Christmas, to the sound of wailing.
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