Following a rights group report that 1,336 people were killed in Plateau state, Nigeria, between December and February, residents reported 18 Christians killed since mid-April.
In Plateau state’s Kayarda village, Fulani herdsmen killed four Christian farmers on May 7, council official Christopher Audu Manship told Morning Star News.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church here.
On the same day in Bassa County, herdsmen ambushed and hacked to death a Christian in Kwal village as he was working on his farm, said an area resident.
In Bokkos County also on May 7, Joshua Gonshak, a lecturer at Plateau State University, was kidnapped from his home in Bokkos town, Morning Star News reported. The abduction followed an attack on Ngoksar village, Bokkos County on May 1 in which “Fulani terrorists” attacked eight Christians, killing two of them, she said.
‘Hunted and killed’
An area resident told Morning Star News in a text message that Bokkos County has come under sustained herdsmen attacks without provocation.
“Our people aren’t game to be hunted and killed in this beastly manner, in a society governed by laws – something has to be done,” the resident said. “The government of Nigeria and security agencies, and every other legitimately recognized entity, must come to our aid.”
The inspector-general of police has deployed troops, and the Special Military Task Force is present, but attacks persist, Morning Star News reported.
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 report. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
