Christians Killed in Nigeria: Pope Leo Prays for Embattled Christians in Benue State
Murad Makhmudov, Michiyo Tanabe, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Approximately 200 Christians were killed by Sunni Islamists belonging to the Fulani ethnic group in Nigeria. This happened in the overwhelmingly Catholic village of Yelwata.
The massacre took place on June 13, when Fulani Islamists began to butcher Christians in Yelwata (Benue State). Hence, another massacre against Christians occurred in Benue State.
This follows on from recent Islamist pogroms against Christians in Akundu-Tyough (Makurdi – state capital), Edikwu-Ankpal, and Aondoana. Accordingly, the embattled Christians of Benue State face endless pressure to leave their lands.
Pope Leo XIV prayed for the Christian victims of the latest “massacre” in Benue State.
Pope Leo is concerned about the embattled “rural Christian communities of the Benue State, who have been relentless victims of violence.”
Christians are killed in various parts of Nigeria.
Catholic Bishops in Nigeria said, “With heavy hearts and deep anguish of soul, we, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), strongly condemn in the most unequivocal terms the utterly barbaric massacre of innocent citizens in Benue State.”
The Catholic Bishops continued, “There is no justification whatsoever for the continuous bloodletting that has become the daily reality of many in Benue State and across Nigeria. The relentless attacks on innocent and defenceless communities under the watch of civil authorities constitute a grave moral and constitutional failure. This carnage must end.”
Fr. Ihyula said, “These Fulani militias are not just killing—they’re clearing land to claim it… And they’re being allowed to do it.”
During the Easter Period, Christians were killed in different parts of Nigeria.
International Christian Concern reports, “Following Palm Sunday celebrations on April 13, Islamic Fulani extremists slaughtered at least 54 Christians in the village of Zikke near Jos, Plateau state. Local leaders are calling the attack ‘a targeted act of genocide against the Christian community’…”
Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang (Plateau State Governor) said, “What we are witnessing is not mere herder-farmer clashes, but a calculated campaign of genocide.”
Vatican News reports, “Christians risk their lives not only at the hands of Boko Haram, but also of ethnic Fulani Muslim herders who have joined Islamist extremist groups… The attacks have led to mass forcible displacement. About 5 million Christians have been displaced and forced into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps within Nigeria and refugee camps at regional and sub-regional borders…”
Christians in Nigeria are innocent lambs being slaughtered year after year. Accordingly, the one continuity is that the massacre of Christians by Islamists (several Islamist forces are killing Christians in Nigeria) will continue because of the failure of the state apparatus in Nigeria.
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