by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - As the Islamic jihadist slaughter of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt continues unabated and with impunity, suspected Fulani terrorists murdered five more Christians in Benue state on Jan. 18, just days after 10 Christians were murdered in the state on Jan. 7, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
While the Biden administration has refused to heed repeated requests by the US International Commission on Religious to sanction Nigeria and list it as a Country of Particular Concern, Nigeria ranks 6th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Rights groups, including the USICRF, have long warned of genocide as Islamic terrorists, including Boko Haram, Islamic State, and radicalized Fulani herdsmen, have slaughtered around 60,000 Christians in Nigeria since 2009.
On Jan. 18, Fulani terrorists attacked Okokolo village in Agatu County, Benue state, after carrying out raids in surrounding villages and driving displaced Christians to seek shelter there. “Okokolo was not the safe haven the people thought it was, as the herdsmen invaded Okokolo community and attacked the people there on Thursday, 18 January,” the chairman of the Agatu Local Government Council, Yakubu Ochepo, told MSN. Five Christians were murdered in that attack, and others were abducted and taken into captivity. Ten Christians had been slaughtered in similar attacks on three villages in Logo County, Benue state, on Jan. 7, MSN said.
“More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria each year, than everywhere else in the world combined,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reports on its website. “The attacks are often brutal in nature and can involve destruction of properties, abductions for ransom, sexual violence and death…The government’s failure to protect Christians and punish perpetrators has only strengthened the militants’ influence.”