Suspected Fulani herdsmen killed a pastor, his wife and three other Christians at about midnight on 2 June in Plateau state, central Nigeria, sources said.
The raiders with heavy weaponry attacked a predominantly Christian village in Kwall District, Bassa County, killing Pastor Dauda Dalyop, 63, of the Assemblies of God Church; his wife Chummy Dauda, 57; Chwe Ajuhs, 26; Joshua Kusa, 45; and Rikwe Doro, 43, said Sam Jugo, spokesman for the Irigwe Development Association, an umbrella group of the predominantly Christian ethnic group in Plateau state.
“In the middle of the night of 2 June, Fulani herdsmen invaders attacked and killed five of our residents in cold blood at Ari Songo hamlet in Kimakpa area of Kwall District,” Jugo said in a press statement. “Two other Christians were severely injured and are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Jos.”
Two days prior, a band of herdsmen ambushed and attacked two Christians in the same Kwall area, killing one of them and leaving the other injured.
Alfred Alabo, spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, confirmed that five persons were killed, including the pastor.
“The commissioner of police went there and saw the scene of the incident, and he has posted men to that place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Alabo said. “We are working with the community to get more information concerning the incident.”
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen’s attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
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