About 48 Christians were massacred by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria in separate attacks in the month of October and September, according to media reports.
On October 15, hundreds of herdsmen arrived in Godogodo Chiefdom in Sanga Local Government Area (LGA ) in north-western Kaduna state and slaughtered about 40 people with firearms, machetes, and set buildings on fire. In an earlier attack in the same area in September, the herdsmen killed eight Christians and injured several others.
"Godogodo communities once again came under very fierce, terrifying, brutal, savage and barbarous attack by Fulani herdsmen without provocation of any nature from Saturday 15th October, 2016, to Sunday afternoon," said Solomon Musa, an attorney and president of the Southern Kaduna People's Union (SOKAPU). "So far, the locals have been able to identify not less than 40 corpses, aside from the several other corpses burnt beyond recognition."
Hundreds of people have been displaced in the Christian community, with their houses and places of worship burnt and destroyed. Fulani attacks have also taken a heavy toll on the agriculture in the communities they attack.
The attack was centered on the Jama'a Local Government Area where many villages were raided.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria (CSW-N) reported that the herders opened indiscriminate fire in the LGA, forcing men to hide in the forests while women and children hid inside their homes. The herdsmen then set fire to the buildings which killed ten women and two children. In a nearby village, they killed two people and seriously wounded three others.
Pastor Thomas Akut of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Godogodo told the Morning Star News that it seemed to be a Jihadist war against Christians. He said that the assault left all 245 church members displaced.
"Our farms have been destroyed," Akut said. "Crops that are now ready for harvest have all been destroyed by the herdsmen. Members of our churches cannot even go to these farms, as anyone who attempts to do so is murdered by the herdsmen. Most of the villages around Godogodo have been destroyed and thousands of Christians displaced."
Lawmakers led a motion in Kaduna state legislature to take urgent steps to restore peace in the area.
"Why should some people continue to slaughter others for some reasons as if their lives don't matter? "We are all Nigerians; some people should not see their lives as superior or having more value than others," said Simon Arabo, one of the lawmakers.
