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Media Contact: Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for ICC, [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nigerian Christians Live in Fear as Attacks against Them Drastically Rise
150 Christians Killed Over the Weekend
3/19/2014
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that attacks against Christians in Nigeria over the weekend claimed the lives of over 150 people. With such incidents on the rise in 2014, the current instability of the country is evident.
Two separate types of attacks took place over the weekend. One involved Boko Haram, a designated terrorist group, and the other incident involved gunmen believed to be part of the Fulani herdsmen that have had a long-standing feud with Christian landowners.
The Fulani herdsmen attack is troubling since it is becoming far more than just herdsmen fighting over access to pasture land or water. Instead, they are intentionally decimating entire Christian villages. In two separate incidents over the weekend, these attacks, as reported by BBC, occurred in the Kaduna state and claimed the lives of nearly 150 people.
The Boko Haram terrorist group continues to carry out brutal attacks, seemingly without any resistance, despite the military enforced state of emergency. In the latest incident, churches were burned and Christians were killed. The scale of these attacks is so great that more than 400 were killed in Boko Haram related attacks in the month of February alone.
Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for ICC says, "The inability of the government and military to provide protection for Christians is inexcusable. While certainly there are challenges, the military needs to devote substantial resources to seeing this process brought to an end. There has even been speculation of various government officials being involved in supporting various groups as a means of gaining political leverage. These sorts of acts raise serious questions concerning both the integrity and the aptitude of the Nigerian politicians. The result has been that Christians have been left vulnerable to repeated, systematic acts of violence throughout the country."
For interviews, contact Todd Daniels: [email protected]
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