Between Nov. 3 and Nov. 8, attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Benue and Plateau states killed at least 11 people, according to field reporting from Nigeria. The report attributed the attacks to Fulani herdsmen. A pastor was among four people killed at a market in Benue’s Logo Local Government Area, while at least seven others died in attacks across Plateau state.
The Benue attack happened on Nov. 3 at about 5 p.m. in Abeda Shitile, in the Gaambe-Tiev area of Logo. It was the community’s weekly market day, and traders were preparing to head home when gunmen opened fire near a POS shop in the Ikyô Tor Dukur area. The attackers then moved toward the motor park on Afia Road. According to Vanguard, the assault lasted more than two hours.
The dead were identified as Pastor Terungwa Tyonungo, Msoo Chan, Suurshater Iornumbe and Dodo Shingir. Reported casualty figures varied. New Telegraph named eight wounded people: Kumater Awua, Miracle Gangera, Tsetim Terungwa, Iortyom Helen, Seember Aondongu, Kofi Aondosoo, Chuku Okoro and Orker Iortyom. Logo LGA chairman Clement Kav reported four killed and five injured, while Benue police spokesman DSP Peter Aondongu said three people died. TruthNigeria reported that the attackers were Fulani militiamen who arrived on motorcycles.
The field report said Christian farming communities in Logo have been resisting a siege attributed to Fulani herdsmen, who also allegedly target weekly markets where Christian farmers sell their produce. Government sources told TruthNigeria the goal was to disrupt farm production during the harvest. In a functioning country, market day should involve bargaining over produce, not running from gunfire. That should not be a controversial standard.
In Plateau state, two people were killed and a third was wounded on Nov. 6 in Larkas, a community in the Panyam district of Mangu LGA. Larkas sits near villages whose residents have been displaced. Mathias Sokdet, a community leader responsible for internally displaced persons, told field reporters that the siege had devastated the economy of the area’s Christian communities.
Sokdet said residents could not cultivate their farmland, and those who managed to plant crops had been unable to harvest them. He appealed to Christian communities around the world for prayer and aid. That is not merely an inconvenience. It means families are being pushed away from the land and work that sustain them.
On the evening of Nov. 7, local reporters on Facebook said Fulani herdsmen killed the nephew of Barrister Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, an outspoken Christian leader in Plateau’s Riyom LGA. The victim’s name was not reported. The field report said the nephew was targeted in an attempt to silence Christian voices.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, gunmen killed three civilians and a soldier in Bel village, Sho District, in Barkin Ladi LGA. The field report identified the civilians as Christian youths and attributed the attack to Fulani herdsmen. Rwang Tengwong of the Berom Youth Moulders Association named the dead as Emmanuel Pam Dachung, 15, Joseph Gyang, 28, and Emmanuel Yohanna, 32. Daily Trust reported that a soldier was also among those killed, although his name was not released.
People’s Gazette reported that two others were wounded. Bala Kefas Dachung, 26, was injured, while Vivian Christopher, 26, was in critical condition at Jos University Teaching Hospital, where surgeons removed six bullets. Resident Bulus Bot said the gunmen “opened fire on innocent citizens, leaving some people dead and others injured.” Tengwong said the killing of a minor and a soldier “highlights the gravity of the security situation.” He also questioned whether the curfew in Barkin Ladi was working.
Capt. Chinonso Polycarp Oteh, spokesman for Operation Enduring Peace, and state police spokesman Alfred Alabo had not commented when the reports were published. This account is based on reporting published by The Gateway Pundit.
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