06/01/2022 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – Fulani militants on motorbikes attacked the village of Adu in the Kwall district of Plateau State, killing three Christians after an evening church service. Three others were injured, including an 11-year-old girl. The militants were dressed in black, Nigerian army uniforms and held AK-47 rifles, survivors confirmed to the ICC.
An ICC staff member visited the village, located 45 km from the state capital, and saw the bodies of the three deceased Christians. “These are the corpses” a local community leader from Adu confirmed to the ICC and mentioned that three others were injured. “Yes, three are seriously wounded by bullets,confirmed to the ICC a nurse from Enos hospital, including an 11-year-old girl who survived two gunshot wounds.
The nurse said the hospital lacked facilities and medicines to deal with the challenges in the hospital and they wanted the government to help or an NGO to help with the medicines. “Most residents cannot pay hospital bills,” the nurse told the ICC. The nurse said the hospital had recently treated more than twenty gunshot survivors who were unable to pay their medical bills.
A resident of Adu village said this was the fourth time their community had been attacked by Fulani militants and that nothing had been done to arrest the perpetrators or increase security after either of the incidents. “Peul [militants] are reducing our numbers daily to take back our land for grazing, but the government keeps silent,” a local leader from Adu told ICC.
Gata Moses from Kwall District wrote to the ICC about the current situation. “The enemies of our land”, he said, “understand how our numerical strength can be used for our defense and are all busy doing heinous activities to reduce our strength by hunting and killing us daily and intimidating us into moving around burning our homes and properties and destroying our farms.”
Moses, a Christian rights activist who was previously tortured by the Nigerian military for condemning the persecution of Christians in his community, also said that “Politics prevents the government from developing better policies, which even in the face of impending crises has not materialized in our communities. Our elected officials have not been seen to use their positions of authority to remedy these anomalies.
For interviews, please contact press@persecution.org.