NIGERIA: Christians bracing for more attacks after fresh killing
Christian farming communities in parts of Benue State, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are “living in fear” as they suffer ongoing attacks – the latest of which resulted in the murder of a man gathering food for his starving family last week.
Militant Fulani herdsmen killed Christian farmer Agber Targba while he was out in his field in Gwer West Local Government Area looking for vegetables for his family to eat at a time of an extreme food shortage.
Local priest Father Remigius Ihyula sent a report to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which stated that “heavily armed” extremists “ambushed” Mr Targba and “opened fire on him” as he attempted “to seek safety”, killing him “on the spot”.
Speaking with ACN after the attack last Monday (5th August), Father Ihyula said that terrorists “have occupied most of the villages” in the area where the attack occurred, making it exceedingly dangerous for locals to work on their farms.
He added that Christian farming communities “are living in fear, not knowing when another person will get attacked” because “a full month hardly ever passes without an attack”.
He said that “most villagers” have fled to safer areas and have to travel “miles to access the farms” where they had once lived.
Father Ihyula told ACN that the goal of the militant herdsmen is to “suffocate people through hunger”, making it difficult for them to collect their food products – so “when it is time to harvest, beginning in August, September and through December, more attacks are coming”.
He added that it was time for the international community to “break” with “political correctness” – because “as long as we keep saying that [the attacks] are about climate change”, the religious dimension of the atrocities “will remain hidden” and more people will suffer.
Father Ihyula highlighted that, as a priest, he is “the last hope” of his people, and his “presence alone gives many of them confidence and the reassurance that they are not suffering alone”.
He went on to say that the Nigerian government has done “nothing concrete to address the situation” – and expressed his gratitude to ACN for providing much-needed help for suffering Christian communities.
ACN’s support in the region has included basic necessities – food, clothing and shelter – and pastoral care.
Extremists killed more than 400 people and injured, raped or kidnapped almost 100 more in Benue State in 2023.
Fulani militants slaughtered around 300 people during targeted attacks on Christian villages in neighbouring Plateau State on Christmas Eve 2023.