Nigeria witnessed a bloody July with lots of Christians murdered in various parts of the northern states especially in Southern Kaduna. The killings occurred in Christian occupied villages in southern Kaduna. According to Barnabas Fund, an organization that supports Christians suffering discrimination and persecution by providing aid, not less than 121 persons were killed while thousands were displaced and their land grabbed.
Between July 10 and 12 not less than 22 persons were killed with over 1000 displaced in a series of attacks on some communities in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area. The Adara Development Association in a statement on July 20, said suspected Fulani assailants were responsible for the attacks on Mai-ido and surrounding villages in Kachia LGA that took place on 16 July where 32 people were abducted and 4 people were killed.
According to the statement, on July 17th, the assailants looted and destroyed properties in Efele settlement and hacked to death, one Gloria Shagari, a 25-year-old mother of two. Also, a Baptist Church leader, Reverend Thomas Gambo was left in critical condition in hospital as a result of injuries sustained during the attacks.
On July 22nd, the assailants who were reportedly armed with knives and machetes broke into homes in Kizachi, a village majorly dominated by Christians. The Southern Kaduna indeed witnessed more bloodbaths in July than any other month since the beginning of the year. In all, the sequence of the attacks shows they were targeted at Christian dominated villages and settlements.
Meanwhile in reaction to the killings in that part of Nigeria, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Faith in Action, in a petition raised alarm that Nigerian Christians are being slaughtered by extremist militia and Boko haram insurgents.
According to CBN statement “Armed Conflict and Location Event Data shows 3,200 people were killed by militia since 2018. Since 2018 there are 40,000 deaths tied to Boko Haram, a terror group that swore allegiance to ISIS in 2015.” CBN said in its petition that the insurgents also engage in mass kidnapping of school girls and many of whom have never been found while those who were fortunate to return to their families tells tales rape, forceful conversion to Islam and murder of girls who tried to escape.
The petition recalled the response of United States senators for Lowa and Georgia “On May 20, 2020, Senators Joni Ernest and Kelly Loeffler sent a joint letter to President Donald Trump, reminding him that after his April 2018 meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the Killing of Christians stopped for six months.
“The Senators asked President Trump to now use the full range of options available to him to highlight the plight of Christians in Nigeria, including sending a special envoy to the Lake Chad region, and impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Acts against those who perpetrate these killings,” the statement said.
Meanwhile President Buhari, in spite the pressure on him to sack security Chiefs due to breakdown of security in the country insists on keeping them but charged that they must ensure that the country is secure for Nigerians.
