Source: www.morningstarnews.org
Date: November 7, 2024
Priests kidnapped in southern part of country.
By Christian Daily International-Morning Star News
The Rev. Emmanuel Azubuike, Catholic priest kidnapped on Nov. 5, 2024 in Imo state, Nigeria. (Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, Nigeria)
ABUJA, Nigeria (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen killed six Christians on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 1-2) in Benue state, Nigeria after slaughtering 15 Christians in a nearby village two days prior, sources said.
In Ayilomo, a predominantly Christian village in Logo County, Fulani herdsmen attacked at about 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 1), said area resident Terwase Avande.
“Fulani herdsmen invaded the community and began shooting at Christian residents, killing six Christians,” Avande said. “The members of the community are farmers. They had returned from their farms when the attackers invaded the community.”
Paul Adetsav, a community leader in Ayilomo, said residents can no longer tend to their farms because of the attacks.
“The Fulani herdsmen keep attacking us almost on a daily basis, killing Christians at will and igniting fire on our houses and places of worship,” Adetsav told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Crops we planted on our farms too have been destroyed by the armed herdsmen. Hunger has become an epidemic, killing us and our children since we have nothing to eat.”
More than 400,000 members of the community have been displaced as a result of incessant attacks, Adetsav said.
On Oct. 30 in Anyiin village, also in Logo County, herdsmen killed 15 Christians, said area resident Joe Iormumbe. Johnson Kwar, another village resident, said the raid went from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Joseph Anawah, a community leader in the Ayiin area, identified some of the Christians killed as Orihundu Ati, Zaki Mbatern, Tordoo Suswam, Uyange Chembe and John Chembe.
Adegwa Uba, another resident of the area, pleaded for the Nigerian government to act urgently to save lives.
“We beg the world to hear our desperate cry – our communities in Gaambe-Tiev, Logo Local Government, are being systematically decimated by relentless Fulani militia attacks,” Uba told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The bloodshed is relentless, with 21 innocent lives lost in Anyiin just last week. Our villages – Anyiin, Ayilamo, Uzer, Iorza, Mchia and Chembe have perpetual been brutally attacked by Fulani herdsmen, and children, women and elderly are slaughtered like animals.”
Homes, livelihoods and entire communities are under threat, he said.
“Security forces collect bodies but fail to prevent attacks or bring perpetrators to justice,” Uba said. “The government’s inaction is appalling, its silence deafening. Our political leaders seem detached, leaving us to face this horror alone.”
He called on the government to take immediate action to protect people, asked security forces to prioritize prevention and prosecution and appealed to the international community to intervene and lend support.
“We are dying, please hear our cry,” Uba said.
Clement Ukav, chairman of the Logo Local Government Area Council, said the government was doing everything possible to stop the violence.
“We are sad that our people over the years have been attacked at various times by Fulani herdsmen, but I can assure that everything that is necessary to halt such attacks will be done by the government,” Ukav said.
Police spokesperson Catherine Anene told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that officers had received reports of attacks in the Logo area, and that security agents had been deployed to the area.
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.
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.
Catholic, Anglican Priests Kidnapped
In southern Nigeria, a Catholic priest was kidnapped in Imo state on Tuesday (Nov. 5). This followed the abduction of another Catholic priest in Edo state on Oct. 27 – freed on Wednesday (Nov. 6) – and the kidnapping of an Anglican priest in Anambra state on Oct. 26.
The Rev. Emmanuel Azubuike, parish priest of St. Theresa’s Catholic Parish in Obollo town, Isiala Mbano County in Imo state, southeast Nigeria, was kidnapped on Tuesday (Nov. 5) by armed gunmen at about 6 p.m. as he was returning from a pastoral visit to some villages.
Azubuike was ambushed and kidnapped along a highway, according to a statement by the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe.
“We solicit your fervent prayers that he may come to us safe and sound,” the Rev. Princewill Iwuanyanwu, chancellor and secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, said in the statement.
In Edo state, southwest Nigeria, Catholic priest Thomas Oyode was kidnapped by gunmen at about 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 from the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, Ivhianokpodi-Agenebode, Etsako East County, where he was rector, according to a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Auchi.
Oyode was released on Wednesday (Nov. 6) near Ajaokuta, Kogi state, according to the Rev. Peter Egielewa, spokesman for the Diocese of Auchi. The kidnappers had demanded 200 million naira ($119,673 USD) in ransom, but terms of his release were not disclosed.
In Anambra state, southeast Nigeria, Anglican priest Ven David Arinze Ajaefobi was kidnapped by gunmen on Oct. 26, sources said. Ajaefobi was kidnapped at the entrance of his St. James’ Anglican Church, Awkuzu, Oyi County, at about 9 p.m., area resident Chukwudi Nwankwor said.
Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesman for Anambra State Police Command, said officers were investigating.