Fulani herdsman target two Christian communities in nights of violence and arson in Nigeria’s Plateau State

16 October 2018

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Fulani herdsman targeted two Christian communities in Nigeria’s Plateau State on 3 and 4 October, leaving 23 people reported dead and houses and churches burning.

Nineteen Christians, including a family of seven, died in the attack on Ariri community on 3 October. An eyewitness described how the gunmen wearing black clothes opened fire shouting “Allahu Akbar”. “People were massacred and we are now helpless. The killing is barbaric,” he said.

The following night, Fulani attacked Nkiendoro village in the same region, killing at least four and setting on fire two churches.

Two women survey homes wrecked in anti-Christian violence in Plateau State in March 2010

On 26 June, 50 Christians were killed in an attack on two villages in Plateau State and on the night of 28 August a Nigerian pastor, his wife and three children were burnt alive when their house was set on fire in Abonong village.

An estimated 500 churches in Plateau State have been destroyed since 2001.