The Makurdi Diocese, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt Benue state, has been hit badly by this savage violence. In 2024, 549 locals in this diocese alone were murdered and dozens more kidnapped. Over 3,700 people in Makurdi have been killed since 2015. Villages have been effectively wiped off the map. Over a million Nigerians, terrified of what might await them, have chosen instead to live in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps.
Wilfred Anagbe, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Makurdi, home to about a million people, says the massacres are a systematic attempt to kill Christians and Islamise the region – and that the authorities are turning a blind eye to the killing of Christians:
The quest to Islamise the land is high on the agenda of some of the most powerful and influential Muslims in Nigeria. There is a campaign to take land to spread Islam. Militant Fulani herdsmen are destroying society. They steal and vandalise. They kill and boast about it. They kidnap and rape – and they enjoy total impunity from the elected authorities.
The militiamen responsible for these attacks often target non-Muslims in isolated communities who are far from help. Anagbe says that these jihadists are, as with Isis, motivated by the spoils of war, and use their religion as an excuse. The rewards are certainly rich: Benue is Nigeria’s bread basket. The farms are fertile and well-tended. For years, Christian farmers have looked after these lands. But many now face an impossible choice: stay put and risk their lives, or flee – abandoning their farmland to the herdsmen.
“When they attack, they destroy churches and burn houses and schools,” Anagbe tells the Spectator. Several of the priests he is responsible for have been gunned down – so, too, have dozens of worshippers at churches in his diocese. …
“The experience of the Nigerian Christians today can be summed up as that of a Church under sustained Islamic emasculation and persecution,” [Anagbe] told a reception in [the UK] Parliament last month. ‘We must mobilise to ensure that we roll back this dark cloud of rabid religious intolerance and accompanying violence by radical Islam in Nigeria.”
Worth reading in full.
Dr. Will Jones is Editor of the Daily Sceptic. He has a PhD in political philosophy, an MA in ethics, a BSc in mathematics and a diploma in theology. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
Move along, nothing to see here. Christianity is fair gam., Islam is the religion of peace. So much so there is an immediate threat of violence if you dare disagree.
Plus the visit from plod to register a non illegal hate crime against you.
As usual, there is a strong tribal factor when looking at ostensibly inter-religious violence, e.g. the Hausa tribe is Muslim and the Igbo tribe is Christian. The religious distinction serves as a cover for what is really age-old tribal animosity. Having said all that, traditional pagan beliefs remain common among Africans of whatever religious label. And let's not forget the economic factor ("The rewards are certainly rich").
"In 2024, 549 locals in this diocese alone were murdered and dozens more kidnapped. Over 3,700 people in Makurdi have been killed since 2015. Villages have been effectively wiped off the map. Over a million Nigerians, terrified of what might await them, have chosen instead to live in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps."
Yet we never, or hardly ever, hear much about this at all, unless your go looking for yourself.
Consider the differences and why certain events receive in depth blanket coverage, while other events (even when similar or worse) get effectively no coverage.
If these Christians were, for example, Jewish Israelis, we'd be bombarded by atrocity propaganda accompanied by calls for foreign-led invasions and regime change, while America would be giving them billions of dollars, in addition to the billions they already get annually. Yet when they are Christians, barely a mention except for the odd perfunctory denunciation.
What explains this stark inconsistency? We are told the various interventions are always about right and wrong, yet this obviously isn't the case. It seems to be more about who is wielding control and how those interests can be advanced.
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