Attacks by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Malagum and Abun (Broni Prono) Villages in Kaura Local Government Area on Sunday 18 through Tuesday 20 December 2022 left 38 people dead in the predominantly Christian communities, said Luka Biniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU).

Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists killed 46 people Sunday 18 December night to Wednesday 21 December in attacks in predominantly Christian areas of Southern Kaduna part of Kaduna State, sources said.

“It is with heavy heart and deep sense of loss that we announce the gruesome, mass murder of not less that 38 harmless, unarmed villagers,” Biniyat said in a press statement. “The killings, which lasted long, started around 11:00 PM Sunday 20 December night. Not only were these, poor innocent citizens killed, not less than 100 houses were razed, with some victims burned alive.”…

“Apparently, the security forces deployed there did nothing under this glaring potential threat to security,” he said. “Especially as this dastardly act is coming five days after armed herdsmen herded their cattle into a farm owned by Cletus Dunia, 45, in Kpak Village, a sub-unit of Kagoro, in Kaura Local Government Area, and shot him dead at close range before mutilating his corpse.”

The herdsmen also shot and killed Levi Zakaria, 19, as he was harvesting yams on a farm on the route taken by herdsmen, who also killed 16-year-old Ezra Sunday about two kilometers away, he said.

“The same herdsmen caused the death of Gaje Habila, 31, when he fell and died of exhaustion while escaping the killer herdsmen, leaving behind a widow and a 6-month-old baby,” Biniyat said.

In Kaduna State’s Zangon Kataf Local Government Area on Tuesday 20 – Wednesday 21 December, armed herdsmen invaded homes in predominantly Christian Kamuru Village, Ikulu Ward, and killed four persons, he said.

“This is to say that 46 persons were killed in unprovoked attacks in Southern Kaduna in the past five days,” he said.

The slaughters follow attacks that have displaced thousands of people from their ancestral homes since 2019, he said.

“Let it be put on record that in the hundreds of attacks that have put many parts of Southern Kaduna into ruins and killed thousands since 2014, we have not seen anyone arrested and brought to book over these heinous crimes against humanity,” Biniyat said. “Instead, it is Southern Kaduna traditional leaders, clergy and human right activists that do get arrested and put in prison over trumped-up allegations of ‘incitement.’”

Local Council official Mathias Simon confirmed that four Christians were killed in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area.

“Aside from the four Christians killed, four others also were injured during the attacks by the herdsmen and terrorists,” Simon told Morning Star News in a text message, adding that the Christians have no way of stemming the attacks, “but must remain steadfast in prayers and be watchful in order to keep our communities safe.”

Bawa Emmanuel, a youth leader in Kaura Local Government Area (LGA), also confirmed the slaughters.

“Attacks on Kaura LGA have been consistent and multi-dimensional with the efforts of the security operatives and government not seen or felt,” Emmanuel said in another text message.

Numbering in their millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.

They adopt a strategy comparable to Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds….