The Islamist rampage in Africa continues, with Muslim Fulani gunmen storming a Christian village in central Nigeria last week and opening fire. Some 13 people were killed and three more wounded.
A group of about 20 Fulani raiders entered the mostly Christian village of Kulben, in Plateau state’s Mangu County, Wednesday evening and started shooting, according to Morning Star News. The gunmen killed 13 residents, all members of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) and wounded three.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Islamist Fulani raiders are waging a brutal war on Nigeria’s Christians, in a campaign to rid the country’s Middle Belt of non-Muslims.
“They were shooting with guns in all directions, forcing the villagers to scamper into surrounding bushes,” said Michael Mutding, 40, who witnessed the attack. “Corpses of those killed have been evacuated by soldiers and police to the mortuary of Mangu Cottage Hospital; and all the victims are members of COCIN.”
On Thursday, Plateau State Command spokesman Terna Tyopev confirmed details of the attack as well as the death toll.
“We received a distress call that gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked Kulben community of Kombun District of Mangu,” Tyopev said. “As a result, 13 persons lost their lives and three were severely injured.”
Rev. Samson Ayokunle, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), recently rebuked Nigerian security forces and government officials for their inaction in dealing effectively with anti-Christian violence.
“The government has not secured their freedoms or said anything about them,” Ayokunle said in a statement. “If criminals are invading the Christian communities, killing and abducting unchallenged, what do we call it if it is not persecution?”
