Christians Abandoned in Nigeria

Christians abandoned in Nigeria: Endless Massacres by the Muslim Fulani

The government of Nigeria needed the support of regional nations in order to tackle the brutal Sunni Islamist forces of Boko Haram. Yet, in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, endless massacres of Christians by Muslims is relentless. Of course, for Christians, the graveyard of massacred Christians is nothing new. After all, vast numbers of mainly Christians were killed during the Biafra War.

Equally, just like the international community and mass media betrayed Biafra, the same can be said of the endless butchering of Christians in the Middle Belt. Indeed, the treachery of the United Kingdom in relation to Biafra and the impotency of the Commonwealth when it comes to anti-Christian violence in modern times – be it Nigeria, Pakistan, or other nations – is relentless.

The International Crisis Group reports, “Violent conflicts between nomadic herders from northern Nigeria and sedentary agrarian communities in the central and southern zones have escalated in recent years and are spreading southward, threatening the country’s security and stability. With an estimated death toll of approximately 2,500 people in 2016, these clashes are becoming as potentially dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the north east. Yet to date, response to the crisis at both the federal and state levels has been poor. President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and affected state governments need to work together, taking immediate steps to shore up security for herders and farmers, strengthening conflict-resolution mechanisms and initiating longer-term efforts to reform livestock management practices, address negative environmental trends and curb cross-border movements of both cattle rustlers and armed herders.”

In recent times the movement of internal Muslim migrants from northern regions of Nigeria is like a spread of Islamization into mainly Christian indigenous areas. Of major concern is the Muslim Fulani who are using war-like tactics in order to spread further into Christian heartlands.

Dr. Samuel Uche, a Methodist Church prelate in Nigeria, said, “We are aware there is a game plan to Islamize Nigeria, and they are using the Fulani herdsmen to initiate it.”

If central forces in Nigeria fail to protect various Christian ethnic groups, then it is essential that they form various self-defense units and work together in order to stem the crisis. Only last month 20 Christians were butchered in the Plateau state by Fulani Muslims including killing little children. Hence, the utter sorrow of the Salama Baptist Christian Church and the feeling of being abandoned by the central government of Nigeria is abundantly clear.

The relentless movement of Fulani Muslims to Christian dominated areas, the mass brutality of Boko Haram, and other issues related to the Muslim Hausa are all impacting dangerously on the Christians of Nigeria. On top of this, the internal Muslim migration in Nigeria is the shared footsteps of Islamization, Takfiri Islamist ideology, government indifference, and the feeling of desperation for various Christian ethnic groups. Therefore, a line needs to be drawn against all these forces in order to salvage the crisis based on a greater regional interaction between various mainly Christian ethnic groups – and permeating all the political corridors of power in Nigeria.

(Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker, “Christians abandoned in Nigeria: Endless Massacres by the Muslim Fulani, ModernTokyoTimes Online, 10/17/17).