Fulani herdsmen attacked a cluster of five predominantly Christian villages in the Nigerian state of Benue on Christmas Day, massacring 33 people sources said.

The most recent death toll of attacks by herdsmen on Kwande County villages rose to 33 over the weekend with the discovery of more corpses after 21 bodies were found in Anwase village, said resident Udeti Gira. The death toll could rise as recovery efforts continue, he said.

“The brutal assault by Fulani herdsmen terrorists has left the community in shock and mourning,” Gira told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The people of Kwande are still waiting for a decisive response from the government to address the escalating insecurity in the area.”

Resident Abraham Kyambe said Anwase village had fallen victim to “a brutal attack by Fulani herdsmen terrorists.”

“The assault has resulted in the destruction of farm products worth millions of naira, leaving the community reeling,” Kyambe said.

“As the people of Kwande struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of the attack, the question on everyone’s mind is: What’s next? Will the government take decisive action to protect its citizens, or will the cycle of violence continue unchecked?”

Resident Adam Kpandev said no fewer than 33 Christians were killed in the villages of Anwase, Ubutu, Tse Azege, Nyiev-ya and Ityuluv on Wednesday (Dec. 25) as “the terrorist herders” also set homes ablaze.

“The attacks on these communities occurred when the people were busy celebrating Christmas with their loved ones,” Kpandev told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

A community leader of the Tiv ethnic group in Benue state, Iorbee Ihagh, president of Mzough U Tiv (MUT) and a resident in Kwande area, also said 33 people were slain.

“Our people were celebrating Christmas when the Fulani herdsmen invaded the communities and attacked them,” Ihagh told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “These attack are unprovoked and were carried out against Christians by Fulani herdsmen, who invaded the communities and attacked the people. Many Christians are still missing.”

The Rev. Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue state, issued a statement on Friday (Dec. 27) confirming the attacks and vowing to ensure the assailants were apprehended and brought to justice.

“These attacks are heinous assault on unarmed, innocent citizens of Benue state by suspected armed herders,” Alia said through his press secretary. “I can assure you the perpetrators of this act will pay dearly for it. They may think they are not known, but they cannot be allowed to continue perpetrating this. It’s a matter of time.”

15 slain in central Nigeria

Days before, on the night of Dec. 22, Fulani herdsmen also killed 15 Christians in a village in Plateau state, Nigeria, including a 1-year-old baby and a 13-year-old child, sources said.

Clement Chup, president of the Aten Development Association (ADA), condemned the “gruesome killing of innocent, law abiding Nigerians of Aten land,” in the predominantly Christian community of Dowchai, also known as Gidan Ado, in Danwal village of the Ganawuri Chiefdom of Riyom County.

“We are saddened by this callous and avoidable murder of 15 persons in a settlement just a stone throw from a military check-point along the Vom-Ganawuri highway,” Chup said in a press statement. “This no doubt calls to question the commitment of the security agencies in their mandate of securing lives and property of Nigerians.”

The assault, in which dozens of houses were set ablaze, took place during a government curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., he noted.

“We are therefore baffled as to how the criminals found their way to perpetuate their evil plans without the security personnel dictating them,” Chup said. “This is most disturbing, as these attacks and killings have been reoccurring within the community.”

The ADA called on the government to form an investigation panel to explain the “mysteries” behind the killings and, more importantly, to ensure that the culprits are “made to face the wrath of the law,” he said.

“This in our opinion will go a long way in ameliorating the pains of our people and serve as a deterrent to the criminal herdsmen,” Chup said.

Musa Ashoms, a civil commissioner in Plateau state, confirmed the “barbaric” killing of 15 people of the Gidan Ado community.

“As a government, we will continue to call on such people that are engaged in such barbaric acts to desist,” Ashoms said in a press statement. “Our people are known for their peaceful disposition. We have never provoked anyone, and we will never provoke anyone, and we will continue to live in peace. But we want these assailants to desist from the barbaric act. It does not pay to take people’s lives.”

Nigeria, the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, according to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report.

More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.

Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year.

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