U.S.-Based Cleric, Nun Say Militants Getting Help to Attack Christians in Nigeria

“It shows he does not have regard for Christians,” the Cleric asserts in a report that was published by The Tablet on Tuesday, November 3.

A UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief report dubbed, “Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide?” which was released in June warns of the risk of an unfolding genocide and calls for UK aid to be linked to efforts to protect Nigerian villagers from attacks by Islamist extremists.

The report argues that in killing and driving out Christian villagers, the Fulani militants, wittingly or unwittingly, are serving the same agenda as Boko Haram.

The herdsmen dominate Nigeria’s arid North, while Christians, including Catholics, dominate the South’s verdant farmlands. The two groups want access to good agricultural land at Nigeria’s center, called the “Middle Belt.”

Herdsmen have participated in the killing of 13,079 Christians between 2001-2019, according to estimates from the International Committee on Nigeria.

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Sr. Elizabeth who does her apostolate at Catholic Telemedia Network, developing a digital-based curriculum for Catholic schools in Brooklyn Diocese told The Tablet that the Fulani herdsmen want “greener pastures” for cattle but added that “as time goes on, it turns out to be a religious thing.”

The proof, she says in the report, is the violence spreading from the fields to churches in villages and suburbs where she adds that Clergy and worshipers, including children, are kidnapped or murdered.

“It’s not just about a fight that busts out,” she noted, adding, “They go into churches and burn them down while people are inside worshiping. This is deliberate; it is planned.”

Attackers typically use clubs, rocks, machetes, and crude hunting rifles made from antique and modern gun parts. They also weaponize cattle, spurring stampedes to trample crops, The Tablet reported. 

As days go by, the attackers have started using AK-47 rifles which the Nigerian-born nun says are too expensive for an average herdsman’s wages. Sr. Elizabeth, therefore, thinks they’re getting help.  

“There is no way they can get those sophisticated arms without sponsors,” she says, and adds, “I am not sure if it’s Boko Haram or if the government sponsors this, but there could be some interchanges because they all have the same mission.”

The nun further says, “I think they are trying to Islamize the entire country.”

According to Fr. Cosmas, the U.S. government needs to make Nigeria a priority in working towards the end of the violence in Africa’s most populous country, acknowledge the violence is not unnoticed, and demand that it ends.

“If there is no action coming from America, the whole thing will continue,” the Nigerian-born Cleric based in the U.S. says, a sentiment that Sr. Elizabeth concurs with, saying “To me, prayer is the key, but we also need to put in some actions to prayer. To me, it’s about speaking out when something happens.”

The Sister urges the Church in Brooklyn Diocese to join in condemning the violence that has rocked her native country saying, “Together, that voice will be louder, and I think that will help.”

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Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.