Dozens of Christians were killed and more were harmed a week after the United States Department of State removed Nigeria from its list of Countries of Particular Concern on Nov. 17.
The Christian Headlines said Fulani Herdsmen conducted a string of attacks just days after Nigeria was removed from the United States' list of countries where religious freedom is violated. The Fulani attacks on Nov. 4-12 and 23 left 38 Christians and two Christian farmers dead.
This excludes the killing of 10 Christians and burning of 100 homes that displaced 690 people on Nov. 26 that the International Christian Concern (ICC) reported. This latest attack was done at one o'clock in the morning at Plateau state's Ta'agbe village.
Witnesses said the Fulani herdsmen were shouting "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) as they entered the Ta'agbe village wearing black and carrying "sophisticated weapons." Per the Irigwe Youth Movement's National President, was meant to erase the presence of Christians in the village.
Sibi Gara, a survivor of the incident confined at the Miango District hospital, told ICC that she lost her "grandchildren for the sake of Christ." While another survivor, whose name was not disclosed, told ICC of the need to sleep "outside on the street" after narrowly escaping the attack and losing six family members.
Three days before the Ta'agbe village attack, the Fulani herdsmen attacked two Christians--Daniel James and Zakwe Deba--tilling their farm in Bassa County's Ancha village at 2:30 p.m. Moses Chohu told Morning Star News through a text message that the 32-year-old James and the 35-year-old Deba, members of the village's Baptist Church, were shot by the militants.
"They were shot to death by the herdsmen who were armed with AK-47 guns, family members who escaped the attacked disclosed," Chohu disclosed.
The day prior to the farmers being shot, the Fulani herdsmen were reported to have attacked Christian rice farmer Rwang Tengwong's property in Barkin Ladi County's Tatu village. The said attacks are a fulfillment of a warning letter sent by the militants a month earlier to Christian communities in Bassa County.
CBN News, on the other hand, highlighted that Miango Youth Development Association Public Relations Officer Nuhu Nga stressed that the series of attacks are indeed "calculated." Nga condemned the attacks and hoped that it would end through the grace of God.
"This calculated attack was carried out by the Fulani herdsmen who intruded from the boundaries of Kaduna-Plateau. Eye witnesses have it that the attackers came en mass to carry out this devilish acts," Nga declared in Facebook on Nov. 26.
"With deep sense of empathy, may God comfort us and bring an end to this evil against humanity. We equally condemn these killings and destruction of lives and properties by the known enemies 'FULANI MILITIAS'," Nga posted two days later.
Atyap Community Development Association President Samuel Achie said in an interview with the Christian Headlines that this is just the sad reality Christian Nigerians are faced to live with, making it already a "daily affair."
"This is the sad reality Christians have been forced to live with--total carnage and genocide against us. These horrific experiences have virtually become a daily affair with hardly any intervention from the Nigeria government, as in all these attacks against Christians there's been complete absence of security intervention," Achie revealed.
