SW News: A recent report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law said in a June 12 report that armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria slew around 700 Christians last month as a farewell gift to the outgoing president Muhamadu Buhari. It was on May 29 that he stepped aside for newly elected head of state Bola Tinubu.

Buhari has been blamed for fanning the embers of an anti-Christian, pro-Muslim agenda in the West African nation. As per the report of the rights group prepared by Emeka Umeagbalasi, who is a Catholic and the chairman of the organization, “The Nigerian radical Islamic leaders who marked the end of their civilian office tenures on 29th May 2023 were wished ‘farewell’ by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen, who marked the end of their office tenures by slaughtering not less than 700 defenseless Christians in May 2023 (month of handover).”

The report says that in Plateau state, 350 Christians were massacred by Fulani herdsmen while the number stood at 190 in Benue and 100 in Kaduna. As many as 62 Christians were murdered in Nasarawa state while Niger witnessed 50 believers getting killed for their faith. The number of people killed for the sake of Christianity was 40 in Taraba and another 40 were mowed down in Borno/Yobe.
“Not less than 1,100 defenseless Christians were hacked to death by Nigerian Government backed Islamic Jihadists in the past 60 days, between 12th April and 12th June 2023,” says the report. This means that 17 Christians were killed on average every day.

Over the past 160 days, 2,150 believers were murdered by non-state perpetrators who enjoyed the support of Jihadists. Close to 1,400 people were kidnapped out of which 140 have no prospects of returning alive. Between April 12 and June 12, 20 pastors were attacked and 100 churches were either razed to the ground or damaged by Islamist insurgents.

The report also ratifies the trend revealed in an April 10 document which said that at least 53,350 believers were butchered in Nigeria since the 2009 Islamic uprising. As many as 18,100 churches were torched along with 2,200 schools. In the state of Kaduna alone, 31,350 Christians were killed with machetes during the eight-year tenure of outgoing Governor Nasir El-Rufai and 200 pastors were manhandled.

In the northern areas of Nigeria, more than 50,000 Christians face the threat of jihadists just because they profess a different faith. About eight million people have been forced to leave their homes and flee to other places to avoid being slaughtered.