Christians killed in clashes with Nigerian herdsmen

ABUJA, Nigeria – Six people have died and several buildings were burned in clashes between mostly Christian farmers and Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Taraba state, police officials said. The attack comes as Nigeria’s government is finally making efforts to curtail the unrest across Nigeria’s Middle Belt amid rising frustration.

David Misal, a state police spokesman, said the clashes began over the weekend in the Lau local government area and triggered several reprisal attacks that continued into Tuesday. The fighters also burned down 80 buildings, Misal said, adding that antiriot police had reported to the area when the clashes began Friday.

Witnesses told Nigeria’s Premium Times that Christian members of the Mumuye ethnic group first attacked a Fulani village and 10 people died.

But Pastor Agbabison Azooka of the Christian Reformed Church of God in Taraba gave a different version of what happened. He told me the attack began when one Christian farmer went to confront the Fulani community after one of their cows fed on his crops. Azooka said members of the Fulani community promised to come over and settle the dispute, but some Fulani youth butchered the farmer before he could make it home. The farmers went over to the community to mediate the dispute and had even signed a peace agreement with them, but the conflict had already started in the village.

“Unknown to the farmers who were making peace, the herdsmen had surrounded their villages,” Azooka said.

He said the conflict burned down multiple buildings, including two of the church’s structures in the region. Several members of his church who were displaced by the conflict are now seeking shelter in the church’s branch in the capital city, he said.

Tension between farmers and herdsmen continues across Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. In Adamawa state, witnesses said three people died yesterday after some herdsmen attacked them at a pond. The Catholic Church in southern Kaduna has said attacks by herdsmen have killed more than 800 people, though the government has placed the death toll at just over 200.

The federal government’s delayed response to the attacks has triggered frustration within the affected communities and among other Nigerian leaders. Taraba’s state governor Darius Ishaku received some backlash and eventually rephrased his statement after he called on Christians across the affected regions last week to defend themselves.

“You can’t just lie down and allow yourselves to be annihilated by other groups,” Ishaku said. “You have a constitutional right to self-defense, and now is the time to use it.”

Johnson Suleman, the general overseer of Omega Fire Ministries in Edo state, last week similarly caused a stir when he called on his congregation to kill any herdsmen who may come to the church to attack. Nigeria’s Department of State Security interrogated Suleman following the sermon.

Azooka said he understands that while comments are made out of frustration and anger, they don’t propagate peace.

“When you say that, it means you’re not prepared for peace,” he said. “We’re not taught to take up arms and fight because that wouldn’t agree with the teaching of Scripture.”

Earlier this month, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari for the first time detailed the government’s emergency response plan in the affected communities. The senate also set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate and find solutions to the recurring clashes. The government said it had deployed several additional police officials to southern Kaduna and the Nigerian Army would set up two new battalions in the region.

People have yet to see the government’s changes on ground, Azooka said. He said security did not arrive on the scene of Friday’s attack until more than 24 hours later, when the damage had been done. Tanko Adihikon, who leads an interfaith mediation group in Taraba, said local government chairmen have had to step up to pursue the criminals and ensure peace.

“As long as Taraba is concerned, there’s no presence of the federal government,” Adihikon said.