Nigeria: Islamic jihadists massacre 134 Christians, mostly women and children

In a horrifying development, Islamic extremists have killed a pastor and 134 Christians in the first week of April, according to reports.

 

"The Rev. Yakubu Shuaibu of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) was killed in Borno state by terrorists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) who on the night of April 4 broke into his house in Madlau, Biu County", said EYN leader Salamatu Billi.

 

 

They also shot and injured his pregnant wife, who was receiving treatment at Biu General Hospital in Biu town, Billi said. The pastor is also survived by another child.

 

"Please let us all pray for his wife’s recovery, for God to comfort his entire family, and for the church of God and ministers of the church working in the danger zones of Borno and Adamawa states," Billi said. "The hunt for Christians, especially ministers serving in the church, by terrorists in northeast Nigeria continues. This is the third EYN pastor to be killed in cold blood within a short time by these terrorists."

 

 

ISWAP also attacked predominantly Christian Njimtilo, Pulka and Ajiri Mafa villages at the same time the pastor was slain, said area resident Josephine Joseph. "During the attacks, the terrorists destroyed houses of Christians and looted their homes of food items," Joseph said.

 

In Benue state, in Nigeria’s middle belt, Fulani herdsmen killed 134 Christians from April 2 to April 10, said Benue Gov. Samuel Ortom in a press statement. "Within one week, 134 Christians have been killed by herdsmen,” he said. “This apart from the fact that of the 23 local government areas of the state, 18 of them have been ravaged by herdsmen attacks, and most Christians in these council areas displaced."

 

The herdsmen attacked the local government areas of Makurdi, Guma, Otukpo, Apa and Logo, area residents told Morning Star News in text messages. They also attacked Kwande County, said area resident Dominic Anza, president of the Universal Reformed Christian Church (NKST).

 

A thousand Christians in Nigeria are being murdered since January 2023. The slaughter continues, with over three million people displaced. Christian persecution is largely ignored in the West by media, as is the ongoing jihad. To call it out renders one “Islamophobic.”

 

The routinely-used word “herdsmen” in articles about the jihad in Nigeria refers to jihadists. The word “herdsmen” conceals and downplays the motives and goals of these jihadists, as well as their barbarism. They want to establish a caliphate in West Africa, and ultimately a global caliphate.