by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Referencing the ongoing slaughter of thousands of Christians in Nigeria at the hands of Fulani jihadists, the Rev. Jacob Kwashi, Anglican bishop of Zonkwa Diocese said this month that “the government is fully in support of the bloodshed in this country,” Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Kwashi made his remarks while conducting a funeral service for 17 of the 36 Christians murdered by Fulani herdsmen in August 2021, MSN reports. “We have never seen an evil government in this country like the one of today. The government is fully in support of the bloodshed in Nigeria. We are being killed just because we are not Muslims,” Kwashi said.
“These evil Fulani jihadists are enjoying the backing of the government to go about killing people, destroying their houses and farmlands, yet when we try to defend ourselves, the government will go about arresting our people. What kind of justice is this?” Kwashi demanded.
There are millions of Muslim Fulani in Nigeria, and they belong to many different clans, not all of whom are jihadist, MSN notes. However, many of the herdsmen ascribe to Islamic jihadist ideology, and they have become the fourth most deadly terror group in the world, and the most dangerous to Christians in Nigeria. The United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief explains that: “The [Fulani herdsmen] adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity.”
Of particular note is the fact that Nigeria is currently led by President Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, who took power in 2015. “He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country,” the APPG report said.