Nigeria: Violence continues but government in denial, church leaders say

A village in northern Nigeria after an attack by Fulani militants. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
A pregnant woman and a child were among four people killed in attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Plateau State last week. The attackers targeted the villages of Ancha and Tafigana in the Bassa Local Government area, as reported by news site Nasoweseeamonline. Margaret Wakili, 27, from Ancha – . . . Read More

Nigeria: ‘Dangerous speech and polarising narratives’ fuel Middle Belt violence – report

Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase, [caption id="attachment_37447" align="aligncenter" width="770"]Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase, displacing thousands of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor) Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase and the conflict has become the country’s gravest security challenge. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
The use of dangerous rhetoric and religious polarisation has contributed to the escalation and can spark further violence, particularly in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, ahead of the presidential elections this Saturday, says a new report. Central Nigeria is seen as one of the most influential constituencies in Saturday’s elections “because of . . . Read More

Nigeria elections: Whomever wins, Christians hope for justice and security

Burned church in a village in Nigeria's southern Kaduna after an attack by suspected Fulani gunmen. Violence attributed to militant herdsmen in Nigeria reached a record high last year. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
As Nigerians are preparing to go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new president, Boko Haram has been stepping up attacks in the northeast of the country, making it difficult if not impossible for people to vote. On Tuesday, 12 February, the Islamist militants attacked Madagali town, Gulak, Magar . . . Read More

Nigeria’s herder-farmer conflict escalates due to government inaction – Amnesty International

Since 2017 conflicts between Nigeria's herders and farmers have become increasingly violent and deadly, says Amnesty. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Almost 4,000 people have been killed and thousands displaced in fighting between herders and farmers in Nigeria’s middle belt in the past three years, Amnesty International says in a new report. Amnesty, who started documenting clashes in January 2016, said yesterday (17 December) violence was increasing with more than half . . . Read More

Nigeria: Stop ‘rumour mongering’ that led to Kaduna violence, says church leader

A vigilante walks through the village of Bakin Kogi, in Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria, where four people were killed in an attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen in February 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)
A senior church leader in Nigeria has said that “rumour mongering” was at the heart of last week’s violence in north-western Kaduna state, which killed 55 people, reports Nigeria’s Daily Post. Following the violence a curfew was imposed. The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Rev. Mathew Ndagoso, urged citizens to refrain . . . Read More

Nigerian church leaders, families continue to die; US top diplomat blames ‘climate of impunity’

Nigerian church leaders, families continue to die; US top diplomat blames ‘climate of impunity’
The acting US ambassador to Nigeria has reiterated the call of his government to the Nigerian authorities to stop ongoing killings in the Middle Belt and northeast of the country. Violence attributed to militant Fulani herdsmen reached a record high this year, with more than 1,800 deaths from January to . . . Read More

What is behind the Fulani herdsmen-farmers conflict?

What is behind the Fulani herdsmen-farmers conflict?
The ongoing deadly clashes between the nomadic, mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and the predominantly Christian farming communities of Nigeria’s Middle Belt are often referred to in the mainstream media as “farmer-herder clashes”: the Middle Belt is a farming region, and the advancing Fulani-owned herds have increasingly encroached on croplands. However, . . . Read More

Nigeria: herders’ attacks completely decimate villages in ‘scorched earth’ campaigns

Catholics protest in Kaduna state on 22 May, 2018.
In Nigeria, conflict between farmers and herders has become the country’s gravest security challenge, claiming six times more lives than the Boko Haram insurgency, the International Crisis Group (ICG) says in a report published yesterday. The report, ‘Stopping Nigeria’s Spiralling Farmer-Herder Conflict’, says that more than 1,300 people were killed . . . Read More

Nigeria: 10 killed in Kogi state as herdsmen attacks move south

Nigeria: 10 killed in Kogi state as herdsmen attacks move south
At least ten people were killed as suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Christian communities in Kogi state on Monday, 14 May. Nigeria has been plagued by violence attributed to the herdsmen, particularly in the Middle Belt and northeast. But now the violence is also affecting the predominantly Christian south states, with . . . Read More

Report: ‘Islamic war of expansion’ underpins ‘religious cleansing’ in southern Kaduna, Nigeria

Report: ‘Islamic war of expansion’ underpins ‘religious cleansing’ in southern Kaduna, Nigeria
A new report highlights Nigeria’s failed attempts, over decades, to deal with the violence perpetrated by Fulani Muslim herdsmen in one of the country’s Middle Belt states. It concludes that continued failings will force Christians to leave the area in a “religious cleansing” that is part of a drive for . . . Read More