Makurdi, 20 July, 2022 / 8:52 pm (ACI Africa).
The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria has decried the increase in the number of Christians killed in Nigeria’s Benue State where he says at least 65 followers of Christ have lost their lives “over the past two months” following targeted attacks.
In a Tuesday, July 19 report shared with ACI Africa, Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe is quoted telling the Pontifical charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International that “at least 68 Christians have been killed, and many more abducted or displaced, over the past two months in only one state in the central region of Nigeria.”
The Local Ordinary of Makurdi Diocese, which is one of the Dioceses in Benue State, also laments inaction on the part of Nigeria’s Federal government and lists the dire needs of thousands of the 1.5 million people who have been forced to flee their respective homes.
“Naturally, having to live with such a situation has been very terrible for me and my people, to say the least,” Bishop Anagbe says.
He further says that the attacks targeting Christians in Africa’s most populous nation indicate an agenda “to depopulate Christian communities in Nigeria”.