Suspected herdsmen and other terrorists killed more than 40 people Dec. 18–21 in attacks in predominantly Christian areas of southern Kaduna state, Morning Star News reported.
Attacks by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Malagum and Abun villages in Kaura County Dec. 18–20 left 38 people dead in the predominantly Christian communities, said a spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union.
Volunteers were still combing the surrounding wilderness in search of missing persons and corpses, the spokesman said.
Villagers had noticed herdsmen from outside the area coming from different directions on motorbikes to set up camp in the nearby wilderness some days prior, Morning Star News reported.
The herdsmen also shot and killed Levi Zakaria, 19, as he was harvesting yams on a farm. Herdsmen also killed 16-year-old Ezra about two kilometers away, the spokesman said.
In southern Kaduna state’s Zangon Kataf County, Dec. 20–21, armed herdsmen invaded homes in predominantly Christian Kamuru village, Ikulu Ward, and killed four persons, he said.
Thousands displaced
The slaughters follow attacks that have displaced thousands of people from their ancestral homes since 2019, Morning Star News reported.
In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.