by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - As Islamist violence against Christians in Nigeria continues unabated, Fulani Muslim herdsmen recently killed two clergymen and burned down a Christian conference hall in the country’s Middle Belt, Morning Star News reports. The chairman of the Niger state Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Mathias Echioda, told Morning Star News: “There’s the urgent need for Nigeria’s government to put an end to these barbaric acts.”
In Niger state, suspected Fulani herdsmen murdered an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) pastor on December 10, and murdered a Catholic priest on January 15, Morning Star News reports.
ECWA pastor Jeremiah Ibrahim was killed on December 10 in Chukuba village, Shiroro County. Pastor Ibrahim led the ECWA congregation in Kobwa Kuta, Morning Star News reports. According to his brother-in-law Peter John, suspected herdsmen attacked ECWA church premises and killed the pastor at his home there. “My sister has become a widow,” and her two children have lost their father,” Peter John told Morning Star News.
Rev. John Gbaakan Yaji of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Minna had served at St. Anthony’s Parish in Gulu: he and his brother were returning from a trip to Benue state when they were ambushed at Tufa village at about 9 pm. “The priest was taken by his captors into the bush, where he was tied to a tree and killed. His corpse was found by a search party the following day,” Rev. John Jatau of St. Theresa Catholic Parish Madalla told Morning Star News. Rev. Yaji’s brother was reportedly abducted and his whereabouts are unknown.
On January 27, suspected Fulani herdsmen burned down the building where a Christian weekend conference was to have been held in Zonzon, Zangon Kataf County, Kaduna state, sources told Morning Star News.