by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A Christian community in Nigeria’s Plateau state has held its first service since being attacked by Fulani jihadists in July, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Jebbu Miango gathered Sunday to thank God for sparing their lives during the attack which displaced 5,000 people.
The Jebbu Miango ECWA church is led by Pastor Ibrahim Isah, who is himself from the Fulani tribe. As coordinator for Christian Fulani Ministry in Kpachudu Miango, Pastor Isah helped the community to rebuild following the attack. “My tribesmen came and destroyed my house by setting it on fire,” he told ICC. “I escaped, but my entire property was burned down.” More than 250 houses were burned down in the July attack.
Addressing a heartbroken community at the service on Sunday, Pastor Gah Yohana preached from Romans 8:28-39 and told the congregation to keep trusting in God, Who “shall in his time turn all things for the good of those who love him,” ICC reports.
Neither the Nigerian government nor the international community has taken adequate steps to stop the ongoing murder, displacement, and persecution of thousands of Christians in Nigeria at the hands of, primarily Fulani, Islamic jihadists. “Over the years, the Nigerian government has proved utterly ineffective against the violence and has a lack of care for the Christian community, which bears the brunt of the violence. The international community should pressure the Nigerian government to take persecution seriously,” ICC said in its report.
According to the Intersociety Rule of Law, 43,000 Christians have been killed by Nigerian Jihadists in 12 Years; 18,500 have permanently disappeared and 17,500 Churches have been attacked. Repeated warnings by rights groups of a Christian genocide in Nigeria have gone unheeded.