Articles by "Fulain herdsmen"
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Biafra and World News

Report: Weapons used in farmer/herder conflicts linked to Nigerian security agencies




   Published Saturday, 01 Feb. 2020
Weapons recovered from arrested fulani herdsmen

Some of the weapons used in the conflicts between farmers and herders in the country have been traced to Nigerian security agencies, according to a report by Conflict Armament Research (CAR).
The international conflict research group said some of the weapons were traced to “stockpiles of Nigerian defence and security forces”.
The report, which can be downloaded here, said 148 different weapons were discovered and analysed, and those manufactured in Nigeria are the second most prevalent among them.
“Predictably, given widespread weapon diversion from many governments in the region, CAR has traced four weapons in the data set to the stockpiles of Nigerian defence and security forces,” the report said.
“Nigerian-manufactured small-calibre ammunition—including cartridges manufactured as recently as 2014—is the second-most prevalent type of ammunition in this data set.
“Four of the weapons in the data set were previously in service with Nigerian national defence and security forces. CAR has established this through formal tracing and the analysis of secondary marks applied to the weapons, which identify their users.”
At least 3,600 people have been killed in clashes between farmers and herders as of 2018, according to Amnesty International, which blamed the casualties on “gross incompetence” on the part of the authorities.
In some cases like in Plateau state where hundreds of lives have been lost in violent clashes, the police and other security agencies arrest suspects without prosecution.
The report, which focused on Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states, said a study of the weapons in use shows the violence is “perpetrated almost exclusively with small arms and light weapons”.
CAR said while some of the weapons used in the conflict are locally manufactured, some originated in Gaddafi-era Libyan stockpiles, and others produced in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East.
It also traced some of the weapons to terrorists and special forces in Iraq and Libya.
Some of the key findings of the report are:
  • Groups involved in inter-communal herder–farmer conflicts in northern and central Nigeria use some locally made artisanal weapons (and) also use factory-produced weapons manufactured in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East.
  • Weapons that Conflict Armament Research (CAR) documented during field operations in three northern Nigerian states have commonalities with small arms previously in service with national defence forces in Côte d’Ivoire and with weapons that CAR has documented in Libya.
  • CAR’s data set also includes Iraqi assault rifles manufactured in 1987 … terrorist groups have used weapons from the same batch in successive attacks on security forces in Mali and Niger since 2016.

    SOURCE - The Cable
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Biafra and World News
| Published Thursday, 04 October 2018 | 13:55 GMT

BREAKING: 14 feared dead in fresh Plateau attack (PHOTOS)





At least 14 people were killed by gunmen in a Tuesday night attack in Jol Village of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, an official has said.

This attack is coming two days after President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the recent violence that rocked Jos, the Plateau State capital, leading to some deaths over the weekend.

Like President Buhari, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, in his Independence Day speech, also condemned the recent violence and urged residents to live in peace.

The Tuesday night killing occurred despite the calls for peace.

The Riyom council chairman, Emmanuel Jugu, confirmed in a telephone interview that the attack occurred on Tuesday night.


“The attack is true. Fourteen persons including women and children were killed by gunmen. Security personnel in the area have seen the corpses,” he said.

The identity of the attackers could not be determined as at the time of this report.

Several calls put to Tyopev Terna, the state police spokesperson, on the attack was not responded to.



Also, calls put to the spokesperson of a joint security operation, OPSH, Adam Umar, an army major, were not responded.

The Plateau State Commissioner of information and communication, Yakubu Dati, could also not be reached on his known telephone number as at the time of this report.
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Biafra and World News
| Published Wednesday, July 11, 2018 |  12:45 GMT

Understanding the Fulani Herdsmen crisis in Nigeria and Everything you need to know


Residents of Benue community burying their people in mass burial after the Fulani herdsmen attack that left many dead


The Fulani Herdsmen crisis remains a major issue in Nigeria. So far, thousands have been killed and many more have been expelled from their homes, and the Nigerian government does not appear willing to initiate any forceful action against them. Rather, they are requesting for pieces of land from states in order to provide the rampaging herdsmen with permanent feeding ground.
Who are the Fulani Herdsmen?
They are largely nomads who go through towns with their cattle. In Nigeria, the Fulani and the Hausa people dominate the northern states, with a population of well over 30 million. Notably, people of the Fulani tribe rarely ever use artificial birth control methods and, as a result of this, the tribe is very fertile, hence their vast population and their presence in almost every state across the country.
Why are they violent?
Due to the peculiarity of the activities of the herdsmen, they move from one place to another in search of pasture. In this process, the herdsmen have reportedly encountered cattle rustlers and made complaints to the relevant authorities who fail to investigate the issue, hence their purported reason for carrying arms about. During their journey, they frequently trespass farmlands owned by locals in their host communities, destroying crops and valuables. Attempts by farmers to prevent them from causing havoc are met with stiff and violent resistance. Most times, the farmers are overpowered, injured and killed, while others are evicted from their homes. Sometimes, the herdsmen are accused of taking these opportunities to steal, rape, raze houses and kill innocent members of the communities they pass through.

Recent attacks by the Fulani Herdsmen
Before now, the herdsmen have been known to wreak havoc in certain communities in Nigeria, but now, the rate at which they commit these crimes has increased exponentially. According to statistics provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace, 1,229 people were killed in 2014, up from 63 in 2013 and Benue State seems to be the hardest hit in recent times. Barely five days to the end of Governor Gabriel Suswam’s administration in May 2015, over 100 farmers and their family members were reportedly massacred in villages and refugee camps located in the Ukura, Per, Gafa and Tse-Gusa local government areas of the state. According to reports, in July 2015, suspected herdsmen attacked Adeke, a community on the outskirts of the state capital, Makurdi. Last December, six persons were killed at Idele village in the Oju local government area. A reprisal attack by youths in the community saw three Fulani herdsmen killed and beheaded.
In February this year, as a result of a clash between herdsmen and farmers in Benue State, 40 more people were killed, about 2,000 displaced and not less than 100 were seriously injured. Most recently, more than 92 Nigerians were massacred by suspected Fulani Herdsmen in Benue and Niger states. Also, before this time, there have been reported attacks by the Fulani Herdsmen in southern states of the country, including Enugu, Ekiti and Ondo states.


Are Boko Haram members mistaken for the Fulani herdsmen?
Concerns have been raised as to the true identity of those behind the attacks. Many with dissenting views believe they may be members of the Boko Haram sect, masquerading as Fulani Herdsmen. A few others, including the Nigerian military, have said they are herdsmen from other parts in West Africa and not Fulani. While the latter may be admissible due to porous Nigerian borders and poor immigration surveillance, especially in northern parts of the country, it is very difficult to correlate the activities of Boko Haram terrorists to those of the Fulani Herdsmen. Boko Haram has utilised explosives carried by suicide bombers or hidden in a target, but accounts by victims of the herdsmen crisis have shown that the Fulani Herdsmen are mainly concerned with gaining greater access to grazing lands for livestock. In fact, following the February attacks in Benue, the leadership of the Fulani group openly admitted that the attacks were carried out by its members.
Responses from various stakeholders
Many Nigerians believe the president has deliberately shied away from commenting on the crisis, as it is widely known that he comes from the Fulani ethnic group.
Following attacks by herdsmen in Ekiti State, the governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, encouraged his people to take up arms in self defence. He also gave the go-ahead to vigilante groups in the affected area of the state, charging them to kill any Fulani Herdsmen attempting to rape their wives or kill their children.
Revealing why the Fulani Herdsmen attacked the Agatus (an ethnic group in Benue) in February, the Interim National Secretary of the Gan Allah Fulani Association, rose in defence of his kinsmen, saying it was a reprisal attack by his people, meant to revenge the killing of a prominent Fulani man. The Gan Allah Fulani Association is an umbrella body of Fulani associations in Nigeria.
In the heat of the herdsmen crisis, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, advised Nigerians to stop attributing ethnicity and religion to the Fulani Herdsmen crisis, citing that such actions are not peculiar to the Fulanis.
The grazing routes’ plan by the Nigerian government
A Nigerian lawmaker, Zainab Kure, has sponsored a bill in the country’s Senate. The billpopularly regarded as the ‘Land Grazing Bill,’ is aimed at securing areas for Fulani Herdsmen across the federation and for the mapping out of grazing routes. Beyond that, the bill seeks to establish a National Grazing Reserves Establishment and Development Commission.
The successful signing of this bill into law means there will be a limited ares reserved for the Fulani Herdsmen and their cattle. On the land required for the grazing routes, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, has said that many northern states have donated several pieces of land for the project. However, states in the southern part of the country have kicked against the idea, noting that they cannot be forced to give out their land for this purpose. Despite the controversy that comes with the proposal, the bill has scaled the first reading in the Senate.
What to expect
The Fulani Herdsmen have unabatedly continued to wreck havoc, mostly in the middle belt area of the country. The inability of the Nigerian Police to contain them may spell greater doom for lives in susceptible areas. Some days ago, Ventures Africa reflected on what the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the herdsmen crisis could mean. Nigeria needs to take the bull by its horn, else, the Fulani Herdsmen – who are deemed only less deadly than Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), and al-Shabaab in the entire world – may be Nigeria’s worst nightmare.
By Adetula David, Published by Ventures Africa in July 2016
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Biafra and World News

Nigeria: Muslims Murder Over 6,000 Christians This Year — “mostly Children, Women And The Aged”


IPOB Writers

5th July,2018


ISLAM


The global “human rights community” will take little, if any, notice. It is too busy hunting for incidents of “Islamophobia.”
“Christianity CRACKDOWN: Crisis in Nigeria as THOUSANDS killed in ‘pure GENOCIDE,'” by Joey Millar, Express, June 30, 2018 (thanks to the Geller Report):
THOUSANDS of men, women and children have been killed in Nigeria in what the country’s Christian community are condemning as “ethnic cleansing”.
Last weekend 238 Christians were killed in a number of attacks by militia in Plateau State, a region in the heart of the country.
Campaigners are warning it is just the latest example of “pure genocide” in a country ravaged by religious division.
A joint statement issued by the Christian Association of Nigeria said more than 6,000 Christian worshipers – “mostly children, women and the aged” – had already been killed this year.
They said: “There is no doubt that the sole purpose of these attacks is aimed at ethnic cleansing, land grabbing and forceful ejection of the Christian natives from their ancestral land and heritage.
“What is happening in Plateau state and other select states in Nigeria is pure genocide and must be stopped immediately.”
They said those responsible were being allowed to “go Scot free” and said the Nigerian government was wrongly trying to paint the attacks as “farmers/herdsmen clashes”.
The statement said: “How can it be a clash when one group is persistently attacking, killing, maiming, destroying and the other group is persistently being killed, maimed and their places of worship destroyed?
“How can it be a clash when the herdsmen are hunting farmers in their own villages/communities and farmers are running for their lives?”…
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    Herdsmen Attacks: How security chiefs Allowed Increased Attacks On Nigerians – @BukolaSaraki1


IPOB Writers

3rd July,2018

SEN.PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI


President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki has berated Security Chiefs over the lack of coordination in the face of killings across the country.

 Speaking in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the Senate President said while the security architecture in the country has “failed”, some of the security officials overseeing security in the country do not talk to one another.

 Lamenting the persistent crisis, Saraki said the issue was “not something to be politicised” because it affects all Nigerians.
He said, “If somebody is not capable and cannot do what he has to do, let others have the opportunity to do it.
“We have had situations where security officials have told us there is poor coordination. One, A is not talking to B, B is not talking to A. They don’t attend meetings jointly and things need to be done.

 “There is no society that continues to see the kind of killings here and think that it should be business as usual. It requires drastic action, it requires a collaboration of all agencies and all arms of government for us to be serious.”
Saraki recalled that the National Assembly had called for a security summit where “we had addressed the issue of security architecture” and also resolved to invite the security chiefs.
“You are all very aware that some service chiefs decided in their own wisdom that there is no need for them to work with the national assembly to address these issues.
“Let us forget the issue of party, these are lives of people. Let’s remove politics. It is not about who is the speaker of the house, who is the president of the senate. It is about Nigeria.”

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Mass Killings: Plateau, Benue Stakeholders Drag FG Before ICJ


IPOB Writers

3rd July 2018


ICJ


IRKED by sustained killings of their kinsmen by suspected herdsmen, major stakeholders in both Plateau and Benue states have dragged the Federal Government to the International Court of Justice in Hague, Switzerland.
Leaders of ethnic nationalities from the states and members of professional bodies such as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have either forwarded petitions to the Court or are penultimate collating relevant documents and other evidence to accompany their own petitions over alleged act of genocide against indigenes of the two states.
Close to 200 persons were killed by suspected herdsmen about two weeks ago in parts of Plateau State with the attendant outrage within and outside the country.
Piqued by the persistent killings in four local government areas of Plateau State, an umbrella body of all the ethnic nationalities in the state, Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives (PIDAN) said it had sent a petition to the ICJ over the alleged killings of the natives.

Similarly, the Berom Educational and Cultural Organisation announced its plan to forward a separate petition detailing the killings in the states
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UK’s House Of Lords Hold Debate On Killings Across Nigeria, Vows To Prevent Genocide


IPOB Writers

2nd July 2018


UK HOUSE OF LORDS


The United Kingdom, UK, House of Lords on Friday debated the continuing killing of innocent persons in communities by armed groups in Nigeria.
The debate concerning the killings and destruction of property was raised by Lord Alton of Liverpool who demanded to know Her Majesty’s government assessment of the situation in Nigeria.
Alton warned against genocide in the country, while recalling such concern “raised on 24 March, by the highly respected former Army Chief of Staff and Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Theophilus Y. Danjuma, who stated that the armed forces were, ‘not neutral; they collude’ in the, ‘ethnic cleansing in … riverine states’, by Fulani militia.
“He insisted that villagers must defend themselves because, ‘depending on the armed forces’, will result in them dying, ‘one by one. The ethnic cleansing must stop … in all the states of Nigeria; otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play’.”
Lord Alton who raised the long debate added that he would like to hear, therefore, what practical steps the UK Government were taking to work with the Government of Nigeria in developing effective solutions to bring an end to this escalating violence.
“Can the Minister tell us whether there is a strategic plan and what representations have been made directly? I know that finding solutions is complex, but there is nothing to stop the Minister calling on the Government of Nigeria to recalibrate security arrangements and to resource their forces as a matter of urgency, in order to offer sufficient protection to vulnerable communities.
“As I close, I thank the noble Lords who are participating in today’s debate and go back to where I began: to the more than 200 people, mostly women and children, who were killed in sustained attacks on 50 villages by armed Fulani militia just this past weekend. People are dying daily.
“On 18 June, the Archbishop of Abuja referred in the Telegraph to what he described as ‘territorial conquest’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ and said: ‘The very survival of our nation is at stake’.
“This alone should serve as a wake-up call. Are we to watch one of Africa’s greatest countries go the way of Sudan? Will we be indifferent as radical forces sweep across the Sahel seeking to replace diversity and difference with a monochrome ideology that will be imposed with violence on those who refuse to comply?
“We must not wait for a genocide to happen, as it did in Rwanda. Ominously, history could very easily be repeated.”

According to the Thebreakingtimes.com, Alton’s statement was backed by the rest of the Lords who took time to narrate the situation in Nigeria and vowed to commence necessary actions to stop what could escalate into Rwanda genocide.

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Get Ready For Herdsmen In S’East, S’South, IPOB Alerts Govs.

IPOB Writers

Date:01/05/2018 

 

BIAFRANS

 

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has hailed the recently released US State Department report indicting the Federal Government and security agencies over alleged killings of pro-Biafra agitators as a welcome development. While expressing its displeasure over the caliber of sources cited by the report and the omission of casualty figures, the separatist organization in setting the record straight claimed Nigerian security agents had killed a total of 1, 247 of its members since 2016.
The 2017 Country Report on Human Rights Practices released by the U.S. State Department on April 20 indicts the Federal Government for its failure to decisively investigate, curb and punish perpetrators of reported widespread human rights abuse and impunity in the country. The report, particularly, spotlighting extra-judicial killings perpetrated by Nigerian security apparatus––especially the Nigerian Army––specifically mentioned the Shiite and IPOB as victims of such impunity and abuse.
Reacting to the report, IPOB’s media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful welcomed the report “insofar as it drew the attention of the civilised world to the heinous atrocities being perpetrated by key actors in the Buhari regime, namely heads of security agencies and Fulani herdsmen.”
He said: “It also confirmed the widely held assumption that all the killings and atrocities taking place in Nigeria, either state sanctioned-like military crackdown on civilian populations (IPOB and Shiite) or the unofficial carnage of terrorists are being undertaken by one ethnic group. The ever-present factor in all the mass killings so far recorded is that they were all perpetrated by one specific ethnic group.”
He reiterated IPOB’s decision to remain peaceful in its approach but warned that continued brutalisation and excessive force might compel them to have a rethink. “We know that after the ethnic cleansing in Benue State, the next target will be the heartland of Biafra and Enugu/Ebonyi to be precise,” he alleged. “It’s an eventuality we must be prepared for because Ohanaeze Ndigbo and South East governors are mere slaves to the north.”
Nevertheless, the group considered the report flawed on many grounds. The report mentioned a possible clash between the army and IPOB members in Abia and Rivers State at the height of Operation Python Dance II sometimes around September 15, 2017, that led to the death of a police officer. “This is factually inaccurate,” said Powerful, “because it was the army that invaded our land to kill us.”
No clash ever took place between security personnel and IPOB, he avowed. “People were running for their dear lives as army opened fire on them.”

 

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Herdsmen killings: The world is watching a repeat of Rwanda – Middle Belt group

 

 IPOBWriters

26/04/2018 

FULANI HERDSMEN

 

May head to ICC, ECOWAS Court ABUJA—WORRIED by the high rate at which ethnic nationalities are being cleansed by suspected herdsmen in the Middle Belt region, a socio-economic group, the Middle Belt Forum, MDF, said it is considering the option of taking the pogrom to the International Court of Justice, ICC, The Hague, to avert a repeat of the Rwandan genocide in Nigeria.
The forum, which expressed grave concerns over the ongoing killings of natives by herdsmen in the region, especially in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Plateau and Kogi states, regretted that the world is watching while the situation is gradually snowballing into another Rwanda. Speaking in Abuja, the President of Middle Belt forum, Dr. Bala Takaya, said the next line of action if the killings continue unabated might be to go to ICC, ECOWAS Court, or to other areas of redress. According to him, “That is part of our dealings and I don’t think I have to go into detail as to what we are doing about that right now. But we are concerned that this thing is in public, worldwide, just like it happened in Rwanda, the world was watching and killings were going on until the whole thing came to a point where hundreds of thousands of lives were lost before the world woke up to realise that they could have done something to stop the killings in Rwanda. And similarly, this is happening in Nigeria. “It started gradually in Rwanda. And it is starting gradually here in Nigeria. Probably, even at a higher speed in Nigeria. But the world is watching. Newspapers are reporting, you have embassies in Nigeria, of the metropolitan countries, I believe they are filing reports to their principals in their countries and the world is doing nothing. “Must we be wiped out like mosquitoes before they wake up and realise that our people have gone? That is the point that we are making. As to go to ICC, ECOWAS Court, or other areas of redress, leave that one for us; maybe it is next thing we will address.” The Forum, however, blamed the ongoing pogrom and wanton destruction of lives and property of Middle Belt aborigines by Fulani herdsmen on lopsided appointments of security chiefs, and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately restructure the security architecture to reflect the Federal character as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution. Dr. Takaya said the killer Fulani herdsmen are now a law onto themselves, adding, “They kill, maim and rape at will. They even brag that in this (Middle Belt) region they (the killer Fulani) have immunity that is superior even to those of our governors and their deputies.” He continued: “As such, in the Middle Belt region, lives of human beings are now cheaper than those of cows. Hundreds of lives are being lost in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Plateau and recently, Kogi State. There is virtually no part of the Middle Belt of Nigeria that is peaceful, making even feeding a major problem. On another side, we do not consider it amusing that the killer Fulani militias demonstrate their power or influence over this government by always choosing to strike as soon as the President rounds off a tour of the despoiled states with even greater viciousness. “President Buhari should proscribe and declare Fulani herdsmen militia a terrorist organisation immediately. He should remember that even the Global Terrorist index Fulani herdsmen as the fourth most dangerous group in the world.’’

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/04/herdsmen-killings-world-watching-repeat-rwanda-middle-belt-group/

The forum, which expressed grave concerns over the ongoing killings of natives by herdsmen in the region, especially in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Plateau and Kogi states, regretted that the world is watching while the situation is gradually snowballing into another Rwanda. Speaking in Abuja, the President of Middle Belt forum, Dr. Bala Takaya, said the next line of action if the killings continue unabated might be to go to ICC, ECOWAS Court, or to other areas of redress. According to him, “That is part of our dealings and I don’t think I have to go into detail as to what we are doing about that right now. But we are concerned that this thing is in public, worldwide, just like it happened in Rwanda, the world was watching and killings were going on until the whole thing came to a point where hundreds of thousands of lives were lost before the world woke up to realise that they could have done something to stop the killings in Rwanda. And similarly, this is happening in Nigeria. “It started gradually in Rwanda. And it is starting gradually here in Nigeria. Probably, even at a higher speed in Nigeria. But the world is watching. Newspapers are reporting, you have embassies in Nigeria, of the metropolitan countries, I believe they are filing reports to their principals in their countries and the world is doing nothing. “Must we be wiped out like mosquitoes before they wake up and realise that our people have gone? That is the point that we are making. As to go to ICC, ECOWAS Court, or other areas of redress, leave that one for us; maybe it is next thing we will address.” The Forum, however, blamed the ongoing pogrom and wanton destruction of lives and property of Middle Belt aborigines by Fulani herdsmen on lopsided appointments of security chiefs, and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately restructure the security architecture to reflect the Federal character as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution. Dr. Takaya said the killer Fulani herdsmen are now a law onto themselves, adding, “They kill, maim and rape at will. They even brag that in this (Middle Belt) region they (the killer Fulani) have immunity that is superior even to those of our governors and their deputies.” He continued: “As such, in the Middle Belt region, lives of human beings are now cheaper than those of cows. Hundreds of lives are being lost in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Plateau and recently, Kogi State. There is virtually no part of the Middle Belt of Nigeria that is peaceful, making even feeding a major problem. On another side, we do not consider it amusing that the killer Fulani militias demonstrate their power or influence over this government by always choosing to strike as soon as the President rounds off a tour of the despoiled states with even greater viciousness. “President Buhari should proscribe and declare Fulani herdsmen militia a terrorist organisation immediately. He should remember that even the Global Terrorist index Fulani herdsmen as the fourth most dangerous group in the world.

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Catholic Church Confirms killing Of Rev Fathers In Benue

 

IPOBWriters

25/04/2018


 

The Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, has confirmed the killing of two Rev Fathers in Ayar Mbalom village in Gwer East LGA of Benue State, describing it as very unfortunate.
DAILY POST reports that Rev Fathers Gor Joseph and Felix Tyolaha were on Tuesday killed after suspected herdsmen attacked their host village.
Fr. Moses Iorapuu, Director of Communications, Catholic Diocese of Makurdi in a statement sent to DAILY POST, called on the federal government to end the senseless killings in the state and the country at large.
The statement reads, “Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha have been confirmed dead in the deadly attack by herdsmen early today on Mbalom village of St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ukpor-Mbalom.
“In their classic style, they burn down homes, destroy food items and kill. The police seem to know nothing of the attacks which have been going on in other villages within Benue State since the Anti Open Grazing Law came into effect last year.
“Many people are asking why the international community has remained silent over the massacre of Benue citizens? The answer is simple: It has been the goal of the jihadists to conquer Benue and Tiv people who resisted their advance into the middle-belt since 1804; the people who rejected Islam and fought for the unification of Nigeria in the civil war of 1967 – 1970.
“The people of the East, therefore, have little sympathy for Benue people and the Muslim North is enjoying a sweet revenge overshadowed by an insensitive regime. There were over 170.000 internally displaced persons before the Naka invasion and surely with the current situation in Mbalom, Benue will be flooded with thousands more.
“What cannot be said at this point is the consequences of the death of missionaries in the silent killings that have been siloed by the government for over a year. The diocese has been active in providing relief materials including education and skills acquisition lessons. To go for the priests means total destruction of everything we stand for and believe in!”

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