Eleven people were killed when gunmen attacked a community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of Christian-majority southern Kaduna State, Nigeria on Sunday January 30.
More than 30 houses were razed during the early morning assault on Zaman Dabo village in the Atyap Chiefdom. Around 84% of the Atyap people are Christians.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said the gunmen stormed the village at around 3am. “Most of those killed were burned in their houses as the people were fast asleep at the time,” he added.
“People’s foodstuffs have also been destroyed, other valuables were also burned.”
The dead were named as Elizabeth Ayuba, Veronica Auta, Bege Daniel, Kephas Waje, Promise Jacob, Damaris Istifanus, Hauwa Joshua, Dogara Gambo, Lidia Ishaya, Michael Achi and Gabriel Michael.
In August 2021 the President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union Jonathan Asake spoke out on national television following a series of attacks on Atyap communities in Zangon Kataf LGA. He accused suspected Fulani militants of planning the “systematic extermination” of “nationalities” in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and the takeover of their ancestral lands.
Pray for the families bereaved by the attack on Zaman Dabo and ask that their needs will be met. Pray for an end to attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and that the plans of the militants are brought to nought.
