The global independent report on the persecution of Christians authored by the Rt. Rev. Philip Mounstephen Bishop of Truro in the United Kingdom was recently concluded and submitted to the Government of the United Kingdom. The report studied seven countries – Iraq, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Syria & Nigeria – as the world capitals for the persecution of Christians.
The report was concluded on July 4, 2019.In its examination of the killings in Nigeria, focused on the killings from Fulani herdsmen along the middle belt regions of the country. It cited the unwarranted killings of unarmed Christians by Fulani herdsmen who are often armed with sophisticated weapons. It observed that the security structure in Nigeria appears reluctant to go after the attackers. The military are more tuned to go after the victims – the report claims.
The report cites that Christians are clearly suffering persecution. The report claims the Buhari administration has done little to stop the tide of killings – instead, the Buhari administration have denied the occurrence of religious killings.
The Buhari administration have since become unsettled by the report and its submittal to the UK parliament. [Buhari’s administration’s response is reproduced below].
Click here to view the 176 page report: final-report-and-recommendations
Below is exerpt of the findings on Nigeria:
4.b.ii. Nigeria
The “intensification of conflict” in Nigeria in recent years comes at a time when 423
Christians in the country have suffered some of the worst atrocities inflicted on
Churchgoers anywhere in the world. Since 2009, Boko Haram, the Islamist militant
group in “allegiance” with Daesh (ISIS) extremists in Iraq and Syria, has 424
“inflicted mass terror on civilians, killing 20,000 Nigerians, kidnapping thousands
and displacing nearly two million”.425 The kidnapping of “mostly Christian girls”426
from a school in Chibok north-east Nigeria in April 2014 and the forced
“conversions” to Islam of many of the students, demonstrated the anti-Christian 427
agenda of the militants. Boko Haram’s continued detention of teenager Leah
Sharibu , kidnapped in April 2018, showed that the militants were continuing to 428
target Christians. The Catholic Church in north-east Nigeria reported in spring 2017
that Boko Haram violence had resulted in damage to 200 churches and chapels, 35
presbyteries (priests’ houses) and parish centres. At least 1.8 million people in 429
north-east Nigeria’s Borno state had been displaced by March 2017, according to
Church sources. To this extent, Boko Haram delivered on its March 2012 promise 430
of a “war” on Christians in Nigeria, in which a spokesman for the militants
reportedly declared: “We will create so much effort to end the Christian presence
in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the Christians won’t be able to
stay.” Hence, by 2017 it was being concluded that “Boko Haram has carried out 431
a genocide against Christians in northern Nigeria”.432
By that time, a new and growing threat to mainly Christian farming communities
had emerged from nomadic Fulani herdsmen. The Fulani carried out attacks
against Christian communities especially in Nigeria’s ‘Middle Belt’, the border
territory between the Hausa-speaking Muslim areas in northern Nigeria and land
further south mainly populated by Christians. Reports also showed mostly
retaliatory attacks against Fulani by “predominantly” Christian farmers, such as
the November 2016 killing of about 50 mainly Fulani pastoralists by ethnic
Bachama local residents in Numan district, Adamawa state. The causes of this 433
inter-communal conflict are complex and “attributed to many factors” . That 434
said whilst the conflict cannot simply be seen in terms of religion, it is equally
simplistic not to see the religious dimension as a significantly exacerbating factor,
and the Fulani attacks have repeatedly demonstrated a clear intent to target
Christians, and potent symbols of Christian identity. This was evidenced, for
example, by the April 2018 murder of two priests and 17 faithful during early
morning Mass at St Ignatius Catholic Church, Mblaom, Benue State, in Nigeria’s
Middle Belt. 435
The threat from Boko Haram and militant Fulani Islamist herdsmen – with evidence
of some counter-attacks from Christians – suggests that the situation for 436
Christians in parts of the country has “deteriorated” , with Nigeria rising through 437
the ranks of countries with the worst record of persecution against Christians.438
Faced with repeated accusations of inaction and even “connivance” in relation 439
to Fulani violence, it remains to be seen if Muhammadu Buhari, re-elected in the
February 2019 Presidential elections , will make good his promise, stated in 440
Easter 2019, to “do all it takes to… confront these security challenges [and] not
allow merchants of death and evil to overwhelm the nation.”441
–
Case study
Case: The killing of two priests and 17 others during a church service in Mbalom, in
Nigeria’s ‘Middle Belt’ on 24 April 2018
The case is referenced by:
The following are key references for this case. Other references are indicated in
the footnotes:
Joachim Teigen, ‘Nigeria: Church attacked, 2 priests and 16 parishioners dead’,
Vatican News, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2018-04/nigeria-stignatius-church-attacked-dead-mbalom-benue.html, [Accessed 20 April 2019]
‘Priests killed in Nigeria’, Church Times, 27 April 2018, https://
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/27-april/news/world/priests-killed-innigeria [Accessed 20th April 2019]
‘Eighteen killed in Benue church by suspected herdsmen, TheGuardian, 24 April
2018 https://guardian.ng/news/eighteen-killed-in-benue-church-by-suspectedherdsmen/ [Accessed 20 April 2019]
`Nigerian herdsmen kill 19 in Catholic church attack’, The Catholic World Report,
26 April 2018, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/04/26/nigerianherdsmen-kill-19-in-catholic-church-attack/
Eighteen killed in Benue church by suspected herdsmen, TheGuardian, 24 April
2018 https://guardian.ng/news/eighteen-killed-in-benue-church-by-suspectedherdsmen/ [Accessed 20 April 2019]
Adrian Blomfield, ‘The bloody cattle conflict pushing Nigeria to the edge of civil
war’, The Telegraph, 17 April 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
2018/06/17/battle-scarce-resources-muslim-cattle-herders-christian-farmers/
[Accessed 20 April 2019]
Herdsmen want to eradicate Christians’, New Telegraph (Benue State, Nigeria), 3
June 2018 https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2018/06/herdsmen-want-toeradicate-christians/ [Accessed 20 April 2019]
Bukola Adebayo, ‘Nigeria church attack leaves 19 dead, including two priests’,
CNN, 25th April 2018, https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/24/africa/nigeria-churchattack/index.html [Accessed 20 April 2019]
Hembadoon Orsar, ‘Nigeria: Benue Church Attack – the Untold Story of Ukpo, Ayar
Mbalom’, AllAfrica, 22 June 2018, https://allafrica.com/stories/
201806220622.html
O Flaherty, M, Pontifex J, ‘Nigeria: Bishops – President should resign for inaction
over ‘killing fields and mass graveyard’’, Aid to the Church in Need (UK) News, 30
April 2018, https://acnuk.org/news/bishops-president-should-resign-for-inactionover-nigerias-killing-fields-and-mass-graveyard/ [Accessed 20th April 2019]
–
Nigeria: Christianity – Foreign and Commonwealth Office written question –
answered on 8 May 2018’ https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?
id=2018-04-26.HL7306. [Accessed 20 April 2019]
‘Sixteen People Killed in Nigerian Church Attack: Police’, U.S. News, 24 April 2018,
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-24/sixteen-people-killedin-nigerian-church-attack-police [Accessed 20 April 2019]
Short summary
Two priests, Father Joseph Gor and Father Felix Tyolaha, and 17 others were killed
on 24 April 2018 when “suspected” Islamist militant Fulani herdsmen opened fire 442
as a 5.30am Mass got underway at St Ignatius’ Church, Mbalom in Nigeria’s ‘Middle
Belt’. At least 50 homes and “farm”443 buildings in the village were “set on fire”444
before the attackers fled.
Case report in full
At 5.30am on Tuesday, 24 April 2018 “around 30 attackers” entered St 445 446
Ignatius’ Catholic Church in Ukpor-Mbalom, in Gwer East Local Government Area of
Benue State, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. The attackers opened fire and 19 people
were killed including two priests, Father Joseph Gor and Father Felix Tyolaha . 447
The rest were “worshippers” , mostly “parishioners” . “Several others also 448 449
sustained bullet wounds.”450
The attack took place as early morning Mass was getting underway, a service which
was to conclude with “a burial ceremony” . A local source told The Nigerian 451
Vanguard newspaper: “The service had barely started and worshippers were still
coming for the Mass after which a burial ceremony would take place, when sounds
of rapid gunshots rent the air.”452
Oryiman Akule, aged nine, an altar server at the service and witness to the
atrocity, said: “As soon as the priest started the Mass, he sighted some people with
guns running towards the church and alerted people but, almost at the same time,
they began to shoot… We ran and hid in one building.” Another survivor stated: 453
“People started scampering and wailing” but they were defenceless as “the 454
perpetrators started shooting against the congregation.” Peter Lorver, whose 455
stepmother was at the Mass and who lost her life in the attack, said: “The
herdsmen came and opened fire on the church while morning Mass was going on.
After they attacked and killed those in the church, they left and started shooting
sporadically, killing residents around the area.”456
“After the attack on the church, the herdsmen proceeded to shoot residents in the
area, and set fire to 50 homes.” Some reports give a higher figure of “60 457
houses”458 attacked and “razed… in an attempt to sack the entire community…”459
Also targeted were “farmland, food barns” with the attackers “carting away what
the people had in their barns.” The attackers then “fled from the scene.” The 460
identity of the attackers was not clear. Nobody claimed responsibility for the
atrocity although, from the outset, police “suspected” militant Islamist Fulani 461
nomadic herdsmen, a view shared by state officials as well as Christian leaders.
People in the area had been warning of the threat of attack by the Fulani for
several weeks. On 3 January 2018 , more than three months before the attack, 462
–
Father Gor, the parish priest, who would become a victim of the atrocity, “had put
a message on Facebook before the attack: ‘Living in fear. The Fulani herdsmen are
still around us in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around us.’”
Context of the attacks
The attack at St Ignatius’ Church, Mbalom fitted a pattern of earlier attacks in the
region, known to have been carried out by Fulani. On 19 April 2018, less than a
week before the Mbalom attack, James Tsave, a resident in the area, reported that
“Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Benue State’s Anyiin village killed 25 Christians… The
assailants set fire to 30 houses, destroying them.” The media quoted Mr Tsave
saying: “Twenty-five Christians have been killed, and those of us who survived have
been forced to flee our village.” On 10 April 2018, two weeks before the attack, 463
in Gbeji village, in another part of Benue State, Fulani killed about 30 Christians. A
resident stated that a Catholic church building was attacked and afterwards houses
were set on fire. 464
“Herdsmen attacks in the first three weeks of April [2018] are believed to have
caused the deaths of more than 250 Christians in Benue State, according to local
media reports.” “Some 73 people were killed in central states – known as the 465
‘Middle Belt’– in the first few days of 2018, prompting a high-profile mass burial in
Benue State’s capital, Makurdi.”466
Fulani attacks have been attributed to the desperate search for grazing pastures
for their cattle at a time of increasing “desertification” arising from climate
change. Father Patrick Alumuku, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese
of Abuja, told Vatican News: “‘Groups of nomadic shepherds are forced to move
south because of desertification, resulting in conflicts over lands and resources in
this fertile region’”.467
The superiority of the weapons used by the Fulani has prompted commentators to
suggest that the herdsmen are funded and trained by others. Bishop Wilfred Chikpa
Anagbe said the herdsmen were “being armed with ‘sophisticated weapons… the
Fulani tribesmen for the most part live in the forest and cannot afford the luxury
of such sophisticated weapons – so who is funding them?’”468
Analysis specifically relating to the attack at St Ignatius’ Church, Mbalom, pointed
to an unambiguous religious motivation. Samuel Ortom, Benue State governor,
said: “The reverend fathers [Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha] were not farmers. They
were not in the farm. The church where they were holding the Mass had no grass.
The armed herdsmen have moved the narrative of the current crisis from search
for grass to other obvious motives.”469
Aftermath of the attack
In the weeks that followed, attacks similar to that at St Ignatius’ Church, Mbalom,
re-inforced the view of Church leaders that religious hatred and territorial
expansion were central motives for the attacks. News reports highlighted that
“The attack took place near… where the Muslim north [of Nigeria] meets the
southern Christian area.” Speaking on Wednesday, 30 May 2018, Bishop Wilfred 470
Chikpa Anagbe of Makurdi “pointed out that 11 parishes in his diocese had been
attacked.” Referring to the killings at St Ignatius’ Church and elsewhere, Bishop 471
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Anagbe said: “Up to 100 Christians have died this year in the hands of nomadic
herdsmen… There is a clear agenda – a plan – to Islamise all of the areas that are
currently predominantly Christian in the so-called Middle Belt of Nigeria.” He 472
also said: “The Fulanis’ agenda was the same as that of Boko Haram. Both groups
are united in the same intention to Islamise the entire region.”473
In the UK, The Telegraph’s Africa correspondent Adrian Blomfield stated: “The
attack [on St Ignatius’ Church on 24 April 2018] has had a powerful effect on
Nigeria’s Christians, persuading many, justifiably or otherwise, that the Fulanis’
real intent is dispossession, territorial acquisition and the expansion of Islam – all
to be achieved by the ethnic cleansing of Christians.”474
Reports indicated that Christians had carried out violence against the Fulani, while
acknowledging that the attacks by Fulani were far greater both in number and
severity. “Herdsmen involved in the communal violence are mainly Muslims from
the Fulani ethnic group, while members of the settled farming communities are
mostly Christian. Attacks have been carried out by both sides.” 475
Political reaction to the attack
The Government of Nigeria immediately responded to the attack by publicly
acknowledging its significance. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in
the US in the days following the attack, tweeted : “Violating a place of worship, 476
killing priests and worshippers, is not only vile, evil and satanic: it is clearly
calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless
bloodletting.” 477
Nonetheless church leaders accused the government of inaction. “In the wake of
the attack” at St Ignatius’ Church, Mbalom, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of 478
Nigeria issued a statement “calling on President [Buhari] to ‘consider stepping
aside’ and accusing the government of security failures: ‘How can the federal
government stand back while its security agencies deliberately turn a blind eye to
the cries and wails of helpless and armless citizens who remain sitting ducks in
their homes, farms, highway and now, even in their sacred places of worship?’”479
Local leaders in Nigeria called for police and other security forces to take action.
“Trever Akase, a spokesman for the Benue governor, said: ‘The armed herdsmen
also burnt numerous houses, shops and other property in the area. This mindless
attack was unprovoked, and we urge security agencies to arrest the herdsmen
behind the killings for prosecution.’”480
US politicians and government called for the Government of Nigeria to act quickly
to stem the crisis of repeated Fulani attacks. US Congressman Chris Smith,
chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, said: “[The] killing of priests and
parishioners… of St Ignatius’ Catholic Church in the Makurdi Diocese signals that
the religious violence is escalating. It’s imperative that Nigerian authorities punish
those who are culpable, lest violence worsen…”481
On 30 April 2018, US President Donald Trump said in front of President Muhammadu
Buhari of Nigeria at a press conference outside the White House, Washington DC:
“We are deeply concerned by religious violence in Nigeria including the burning of
churches and the killing and persecution of Christians.” 482
64
Foreign Office Minister and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of
Religion or Belief, Lord Ahmad, when answering a Parliamentary Question on this
subject, has said: “We condemn the recent attack in Mbalom, Benue State, which
included an attack on a church and up to fifty houses. Two priests were among at
least 18 people reportedly killed. We are appalled by the tragic loss of life”483
Case Review and Analysis
In spite of uncertainly over the identity of the attackers, the evidence suggests a
religious motive lay, at least in part, behind the 24 April 2018 killing of priests and
worshippers attending an early morning church service at St Ignatius’ Church,
Mbalom, in Nigeria’s ‘Middle Belt’. Insofar as the massacre fitted with a general
pattern of attacks by militant Fulani nomadic herdsmen, the killings appeared to
point out the error of an analysis, which downplayed religious motives in exclusive
favour of issues including climate change, the search for cattle-grazing pastures
and other economic factors. In the US, response to the St Ignatius’ Church killings
from President Donald Trump and other political leaders both recognised the
religious dimension to the violence and renewed calls for the Nigerian government
to do more to bring the perpetrators to justice. A similar approach is evident in the
response made by the UK government.
Conclusions
Nigeria is one of a number of West African countries straddling the sub-Saharan
transition zone between majority-Muslim regions in the north and majorityChristian regions in the south. Since independence there has been a conscious
effort to ensure that both communities are fairly represented at all levels in the
structures of power in civil and military life. But in more recent years this balance
appears to have been disturbed. In the northern and central regions of the country
attacks on and abductions of unarmed civilians by armed groups have become
increasingly frequent. The case study above gives full details of one such attack in
the so-called Middle Belt, and cross-references others that demonstrate a
consistent pattern.
Members of the Independent Review Team visited Nigeria in March. They met with
church leaders, representatives of international civil society, FoRB NGO
representatives, witnesses to persecution and attacks in the northern and central
regions and staff at the British High Commission in Abuja. This included a
roundtable discussion hosted by the British High Commission specifically on the
farmer/herder clashes in the Middle Belt. There was a consensus in condemnation
of the activities of Boko Haram and associated groups in the northern regions as
religiously motivated, the widely publicised abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls
being but one example of these activities. But when it came to the numerous
attacks by Fulani herdsmen on farming communities in what is known as the Middle
Belt, where Christian and Muslim communities are intermixed, there was a
divergence of view.
Representatives of some international organisations and FCO staff maintained that
these attacks were primarily caused by factors such as a changing environment and
the clash of livelihoods This would reflect the position taken in an April 2019 FCO
65
research analysts’ paper cautioning against seeing the attacks as being sparked by
a Fulani Islamisation agenda (this was despite assurances from senior FCO
researchers in London that their own analysis, supplied to Post, always took the
religious dimension into account). However church leaders and witnesses from the
region maintained that the facts pointed to a further ethno-religious dynamic as a
significant exacerbating factor. It was pointed out that the effects of climate
change are more severe in neighbouring Niger to the north, but farmer-herder
disputes there do not lead to mass loss of life as Government security forces are
quick to diffuse tensions and initiate traditional dispute-resolution procedures.
Additionally there are normally only primitive weapons available to both sides. By
contrast in Nigeria the herdsmen side is often armed with sophisticated assault
rifles, the Government security forces seem to steer clear of getting involved; and
traditional dispute resolution procedures cannot operate when the situation has
already been significantly enflamed with one party to the dispute suffering
disproportionately. Add to this that Christian villages are predominantly targeted
and that attacks often start by attacking the priest and the church and the
religious dimension of the conflict becomes ever more evident. Specialist
witnesses interviewed in London also reported observing spikes in geo-located
jihadi social media traffic both before and after such raids.
Whatever the motivation behind these attacks, however, it is striking that nobody
is being brought to justice for these crimes. Where there is such impunity the
incentive is clearly given for the attacks to continue and the affected communities
are denied protection. In just four months in early 2018 there were at least 106
such attacks and the resulting death toll was 1,061 Christian villagers killed, over
the same period there were seven attacks on Fulani herdsmen, two of them in the
south of the country . Since 2015 more deaths have resulted from these violent 484
attacks than those caused by Boko Haram further north. By June 2018 11,833 485
displaced persons from these raids were living in 17 camps and 54 communities in
Plateau state alone had been occupied and renamed by the raiders. On 3 July 486
2018 the Nigerian House of Representatives declared the killings in Plateau State
to be a genocide. Around the same time British Government Ministers were 487
insisting in parliament that these killings had little to do with religious
extremism.488
Victim witnesses from Plateau state reported that they received regular visits from
staff at the US mission in Abuja, but said that the British hardly ever visited
(although a forthcoming visit to Jos was promised at the roundtable meeting).
Post have since clarified that they had visited Plateau a number of times during
the past year to visit other groups, but had not had the opportunity to meet
affected communities. Nonetheless Independent Review Team members were
assured that contact is good between the British High Commission and the Nigerian
Federal Government at the highest levels and that security and humanitarian
assistance has been offered. But until at least some of the perpetrators of violence
in the Middle Belt are brought to justice; the security forces intervene effectively
on the side of those being attacked; and solutions are formulated which take the
ethno-religious dimension seriously, victims and survivors will remain unconvinced
that diplomatic efforts to date have been as effective as they might otherwise
have been.
6
Buhari’s reponse
The Presidency welcomes the recent report to the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office – specifically the British Government’s new focus on herder-farmer clashes. Engagement with various stakeholders is key to breeding the dialogue and – most importantly – trust to resolve this age-old conflict.
As the report sets out, there are many causes to this conflict, from competition over land to climate change. The National Livestock Transformation Plan sets out to deal with these by preventing open grazing of cattle and – consequently – the destruction of crops.
Enclosed ranching is a core component of the programme. For farmers, this guarantees their yield and livelihoods. For herders, all livestock produce more meat and milk in a ranch rather than being always on the move.
These plans do not come at one or another’s expense. Instead, they shall make both farmers and herders richer. We must learn to live together because there isn’t another way. Our diversity should never be a cause for conflict, but a source of strength from which the nation can draw.
The report also highlighted the threat from Boko Haram in their mission to establish an “Islamic state” in place of the secular state. Where the group once administered territory, they now hold on to none. In those fringe areas and spaces where they still pose a threat, they are being chased, their bases smashed. In this second term, we shall focus on extinguishing the final remnants of the group.
As President Buhari reasserted at Easter: “[I will] do all it takes to… confront these security challenges [and] not allow merchants of death and evil to overwhelm the nation.”
