by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Muslim Fulani herdsmen are suspected of murdering three members of the Evangelical Church Winning All denomination in Nigeria’s Kaduna state early on Sunday morning, the Christian Post reports. Two church members were also abducted in the same attack and a further five were kidnapped in a separate attack on a nearby community the same day. The killings and abductions are the latest in ongoing murderous assaults by Islamic extremist terrorists on Christian communities in Nigeria.
According to the London-based human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), one of the two attacks was carried out at around 2am by militia who descended on the Buda community in the Buda ward of Kajuru, a local government area which has seen years of devastating violence from Fulani herdsmen, the Christian Post reports.
CSW, a United Nations-accredited nongovernmental organization, identified those who died in this attack as Audu, a 45-year-old father of five; 40-year-old Adamu Tata, a father of four and 37-year-old Ishaku Peter, a father of five. Those who were reportedly abducted during this attack are 25-year-old Sani Peter and 20-year-old Esther Sani Peter.
The attackers also invaded the neighboring Kemara Rimi community in the Buda ward and abducted 16-year-old Grace Mathew, 35-year-old Ojo Aminu, 37-year-old Danfulani Makaranta, 36-year-old Namiji Gwamna and 36-year-old Ali Musa, CSW said.
“CSW’s heart goes out to those affected by the continuing violence in southern Kaduna,” CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement. “We express our deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in the recent attacks, and continue to call for effective action on the part of the Kaduna State and Nigerian Federal governments to secure the immediate, unconditional, and safe release of all those abducted, and to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.”