Pankshin, 17 July, 2024 / 10:19 pm (ACI Africa).
Attacks against Christians in Nigeria’s Plateau State where nearly 200 Christians were massacred on Christmas Eve 2023 have continued unabated, a Catholic priest serving the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Nigerian State has said.
According to Fr. Andrew Dewan, the Director of communications in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Pankshin, which serves parts of Plateau State, Christians in the region are increasingly becoming hopeless as the government remains indifferent to the plight of the victims of the attacks.
And now, even the survivors of massacres by extremists eight months ago “have no trust” in their leaders as they face continued attacks on their farms and an increasing food shortage, Fr. Dewan tells the Catholic pontifical and charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, in a Tuesday, July 16 report.
In the report, Fr. Dewan says Christians “feel helpless”, and adds, “We keep encouraging them as priests, as pastors of souls to be hopeful, to be resilient. But things don’t seem to get better… So, there is an atmosphere of hopelessness.”
He goes on to lament that “elected officials are just not interested in the welfare of the people,” and are offering no protection or other practical support to Christian communities whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.
