“Christians are being hunted and killed because they say we are infidels,” declared Pastor Adamu Musa after a group of small villages in Maingo, Plateau state, Nigeria, was attacked by gunmen last weekend, during the night of July 31 – August 1. Seven people were killed and several others injured, including Pastor Adamu himself, who sustained a gunshot wound. An estimated 275 buildings were burned down in the predominantly Christian area.
“At the Mercy of Gunmen Because of Our faith”
“A whole village was razed; we counted the houses one after the other,” said Lawrence Zongo, National Publicity Secretary of a local youth movement, saying also that the population were “at the mercy of gunmen because of our faith.”
Will you help Christian victims of violence in Nigeria, who have survived attacks that kill their loved ones and destroy their homes?
Christians in Nigeria’s Northern and Middle Belt states continue to be targeted with violence like this. And it is escalating.
Kidnappings of Christians are also on the rise, often children and young people abducted from their schools and colleges, most recently about 120 taken in one night from Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna state.
Comforting a child from Bethel Baptist High School, released after nearly three weeks held by kidnappers. About 83 others are still held
Warning of a Christian Genocide
Many incidents of anti-Christian violence go unreported, so estimating the total death toll over time is hard. Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State, has cited a figure of 1,500 Christian deaths in the first half of this year. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned of a potential “Christian genocide.”
Whether the attackers are Fulani militants or jihadi terrorists from Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province, for the Christian victims of violence it is the same suffering. “Killings, kidnappings, rape, maiming and the destruction of properties” – this is how it is summed up by the Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians after 18 villagers died when two villages were stormed in Zangon Kataf, Kaduna state, on July 9 and 11.
Your Gift Brings Practical Help
Barnabas Aid provides assistance for the survivors of violent attacks, and helps those who have fled to settle and establish themselves in safer areas, providing food, sleeping mats and blankets, as well as materials to rebuild homes.
$6.50 could buy a pack of roofing nails
$20 could buy 110 lbs. of corn,
$34 could buy 2 sleeping mats and 2 blankets
$55 could buy a bundle of zinc roofing sheets
Please help today.
