Chaos erupts in Nigeria as Jihadists launch horrific attacks on the civilians one after the another. As per recent reports, a female suicide bomber killed at least 10 people in a restaurant located in the north-eastern state of Borno. The bombing left several others injured while no militants group has claimed the attack yet.
Locals have claimed that the suicide bomber went undetected because of heavy rain. However the northeast region of Nigeria have witnessed series of such attacks by militant groups such as the Boko Haram in the region. Boko Haram is known for radicalizing locals against Western Education and supporting the Sharia Law.
Recently, on Friday June 13, Fulani Jihadists massacred hundreds of Christians from a farming community in Yelwata. As per reports, a eye witness to the massacre said that gunmen on motorcycles chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ fired indiscriminately at people in the village. The gunmen went from house to house choosing their targets. A local clergy said that it was a three hour killing mayhem in which at least 200 people were brutally killed.
Micheel Odeh James from Truth Nigeria said that Yelwata had predominant Christian population who came to Yelwata fleeing the Jihadist atrocities in the nearby regions.
James said, “We are about 6 to 7 million Nigerians living in Benue, and over 97% of them are Christians. They are Baptist, they are Methodists, they are Catholics. Militants set fire to their buildings as people slept, and attacked with machetes anyone who tried to flee,”. He further added, “(It was) not just slaughtering, not just macheting, (but) they locked some people up…and then doused them with gasoline and then set them ablaze…Babies were burned.”
Yelwata is located in the North Central part of Nigeria. It comprises of almost 98% Christians with 97% percent Catholics and 3% of other denomination. They constitute the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who fled persecution in other parts of Nigeria.
As per reports, the attack began at 10 PM and it crossed all levels of brutality. Mton Matthias, a youth leader said, “They came from Rukubi in Doma, Keana, Obi, and other counties in Nasarawa State,” adding, “They surrounded Yelwata, speaking Hausa and Fufulde, and began slaughtering people—mostly women, children, and displaced families who thought they had found safety here…We’re still finding bodies in the bushes…The death toll is rising every hour.”
Strategic Ethnic Cleansing
According to Rev. Fr. Remigius Ihyula, Director of JPDF, the mass killings in Yelwata was not just random violence. It is a strategic ethnic cleansing to remove Christians from their ancestral land. He said, “These Fulani militias are not just killing—they’re clearing land to claim it….And they’re being allowed to do it.”
Director of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), David Onyillokwu Idah, claimed the killings were carried out to eliminate Tiv and Idoma people. He said, “This is what the Nazis did to the Jews. It’s ethnic cleansing, step by step. First, they displace them. Then they come back and finish the job.”
Massacre of Catholics raise alarm
Catholic religious freedom advocate in Washington, Jacqueline Halbig von Schleppenbach called the Jihadist killings as the bloodiest massacre on record. She said, “All accounts of those on the ground note that this is the bloodiest massacre on record. The military was aware this was happening and did nothing!”. She further said, “The time is now for the Trump administration to name Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and for the US Congress to pass H.R. 220 in support of the State Department’s CPC previous designation,”
Yelwata Massacre is one of the string of violent attacks perpetrated by Jihadist forces in the Benue State. Reports confirm that the humanitarian crisis in Yelwata is worsening. Water contamination, food shortage and disease outbreak have further added to the woes of the Christian community living there.
