On August 8, a criminal gang and a group of Fulani herdsmen joined their forces and carried out a massacre among Christian farmers in a village in Ukum County, Benue state, Nigeria. The attack claimed more than 50 lives, according to local sources. Officials found 30 corpses of the victims but said that the death toll is likely higher as many residents were taken away and possibly killed further from residential areas.

According to Shima Ayati, a resident of the area, the attack was preceded by a scam executed by a criminal gang. The criminals claimed to sell the land of Christian farmers to the herdsmen, who then came to take over it based on the unlawful deal between them. The farmers complained to government officials, who alerted the security forces. Ayati said to the Vanguard news outlet that

“The government dispatched the state security outfit who came and chased the herdsmen away and burnt their tents, which got them angry. They claimed that the bandits sold the land to them, and they went and met the bandits. So the herdsmen and bandits went to the village and carried out a massacre.”

After chasing away the herdsmen, state security forces left the village, leaving the Christians unprotected and open to a possible attack.

This massacre was only the latest attack on Christians by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria. In the past three months, they attacked multiple Christian villages throughout the region. Herdsmen killed three Christians, including a 6-year-old child, in the Sankera area; they left 11 people dead after an attack on Ayati and Borikyo villages in July alone. Fulani herdsmen also carried out an attack earlier in August, targeting Christian farmers and wounding four of them, but without killing anyone.

Source: Christian Daily

Photo: Wikimedia