Church
leader says the aggression could cast Nigeria into ‘civil war’
By
Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service, who was born in
Nigeria
ENUGU,
NIGERIA (ANS - April 27, 2016) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacks on
Christians have advanced beyond Nigeria’s central zone into a southern state,
with a church leader saying the aggression could cast Nigeria into civil war as
a massacre this week took at least 27 lives.
Morning
Star News says that following the February massacre in Agatu, in the
central-eastern state of Benue, and the attack on Monday (April 25) on three
predominantly Christian villages in the south-eastern state of Enugu, church and
rights figures began to describe Muslim Fulani aggression as posing a threat of
civil war. Enugu shares a border with Benue.
The
news service goes on to say that while a secessionist group called for Enugu
natives to defend against further Fulani attacks, the archbishop of Enugu
Ecclesiastical Province, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, said Muslim
Fulani killings, kidnappings, destruction of farmland and rape have become a
regular occurrence in central and southern parts of Nigeria.
“What
happened in Agatu is again being spread to other areas, and this is breeding
serious civil war that is very much in breach of peace in this country,” the Rt.
Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma said in a press statement. “We don’t want war,
but the way things are happening, if care is not taken, there is going to be
another war which nobody can avert. It is either Nigeria must be one, or we
disintegrate and go our ways.”
The
archbishop said he had received numerous calls from throughout the world about
unprovoked killing of Christians in Enugu state this week.
“It
has therefore become necessary for me to call on the federal government of
Nigeria to declare an emergency against the menace of the Fulani herdsmen and
put an end to the senseless killing of innocent Nigerians,” he said. “We cannot
continue this way, because this is Boko Haram acting in collaboration with
Muslim Fulani herdsmen, and we cannot accept this.”
Muslim
Fulani herdsmen launched attacks in Enugu state last year, and an assault in
February reportedly killed two people and left 19 missing. The attacks come
after years of similar killing sprees in north-central states such as Kaduna and
Plateau and, more recently, assaults in central- eastern states such as Taraba
and Benue, amid suspicions that Islamic extremist groups are arming the herdsmen
and in some cases accompanying them.
“After
Monday’s pre-dawn attacks in Enugu state on three Christian villages in
Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area – Odozi-Obodo, Onu-Eke and Nimbo – the Imo
state-based secessionist Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of
Biafra (MASSOB) issued a statement calling on area tribal ‘youths to wake up and
let us unite and face our enemies.’ With the aim of reviving the defunct state
of Biafra, MASSOB declares itself non-violent, while the government accuses it
of violence and has included it on a list of armed rebel groups,” said Morning
Star News.
MASSOB
spokesman Comrd. Edeson Samuel said in a press statement, “We wish to remind
Ndigbo and Biafrans that this killing and destruction of property of our people
by Fulani herdsmen is getting out of hand. The fact that MASSOB believes in
non-violence does not mean that we cannot defend ourselves. There is a limit to
human endurance.”
Samuel
and others faulted security forces for failing to stop the attack even after
reports had surfaced that it was imminent. Archbishop Chukwuma said Christians
were wondering what the government was doing to address the “Fulani herdsmen
menace” throughout the country.
“The
killing of these Christians of Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani is a big shock in the sense
that the security operatives were not alert to avert it even when some of them
were aware,” he said. “The herdsmen came around 4 a.m. and started firing and
killing the villagers, and over 27 people were killed … The federal government
must speak and do something, or else this is calling and breeding civil war
against the Fulanis.”
Reports
from area church leaders indicated that buildings belonging to Catholic and
Christ Holy Church congregations, along with 11 houses, were burned after more
than 100 armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen invaded the communities. Unconfirmed
reports prior to the attack suggested up to 500 assailants were being recruited
to launch the assault.
Morning
Star News goes on to say that Ebere Amaraizu, Enugu state police spokesman,
confirmed the attack on the Christian villages. He told Morning Star News by
phone interview that 21 bodies had been recovered and taken to a morgue at Bishop Shanahan Hospital
in Nsukka town. He said the death toll would rise as the search for missing
people continued.
“Our
officers, together with a detachment of military personnel, are in the area to
restore law and order,” he said. “Efforts are also being made to recover corpses
of those killed, while the injured have been taken to some close-by
hospitals.”
Rapes,
murders and destruction of farmlands of Christian villagers by herdsmen have
been reported in the recent past in the same communities, church leaders told
Morning Star News, but security agencies have made no serious effort to halt the
destructive activities.
The
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) also stated that attacks by
Fulani herdsmen could cause civil war if not checked. The pro-democracy group
said in a press statement that Nigeria may be near civil war due to “the seeming
conspiratorial silence and clear case of orchestrated ineptitude and inaction”
of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Enugu
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi declared two days of fasting and prayers in all churches
in the state in memory of those killed and called for God’s intervention to stop
the carnage by the herdsmen.
“On
Sunday, we were in the church for Nigeria Prays, with Gen. Yakubu Gowon,”
Ugwuanyi told reporters. “I got a call from the council chairman, and
immediately I summoned a security council meeting. Prior to that we had met with
the Fulani leaders, and it was indeed yesterday [Monday, April 25] that we would
have inaugurated a joint committee of the Fulani and the Enugu government.”
He
said the state government would provide 5 million naira (US$25,000) in aid to
community leaders.
“May
I therefore call on the entire people of Enugu state to please fast for two days
and put this into the hands of God,” he said. “Enugu is in the hands of
God.”
While
receiving the governor, John Ako, a Christian community leader in the area,
reportedly said the attacks were unprovoked.
“We
had a black Monday yesterday; no week passes by without our women being raped
and our men killed by the herdsmen,” he said. “We appeal for military and police
presence. They [herdsmen] come to the farm, point guns at the farmer, ask him to
go away, and say the cattle will feed on the farm; we don’t go to farm
again.”
For
more information, please visit http://morningstarnews.org.
Photo
captions: 1) Another attack by Fulani herdsmen on this Christian village in
Nigeria. 2) Fulani herdsmen on the attack. 2) The Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Olisa
Chukwuma, Anglican archbishop of Enugu. 3) Dan Wooding pictured with another
prisoner in a cell in Lagos, Nigeria. (He smuggled the picture out of the
country after being kicked out of the land of his birth, and told never to
return).
**
You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST
News Service (www.assistnews.net).