Catholic Bishop Appeals for Prayers after 29 Killed in September Attacks in Nigerian State

“It is my hope that you will continue to advocate and lobby the international community and other prominent agencies to speak out about these attacks. The genocidal situation is getting out of hand,” he says.

At the heart of the killings and displacements is the Diocese of Makurdi which also hosts the largest population of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the Nigerian state.

A total of six separate attacks have been recorded in various areas served by the two Nigerian Catholic Dioceses in the month of September, which has not ended yet.

Of these, the September 21 attack on Mchia community that is served by Katsina Ala Diocese has been the deadliest so far, having left 11 people killed and scores injured.

The update shared with ACI Africa bears gory images of victims of armed Fulani herdsmen. Many of them are of decapitated children lying in pools of blood.

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Bishop Anagbe shared the realization that those behind the attacks have always been referred to as “unknown gunmen” when they are actually jihadists.

“From the updates I have been sharing with you in the past concerning this challenge, we have tried to unmask and make clear that the perpetrators of these heinous acts are jihadists Islamists who often camouflage as ‘herdsmen’ to kill, plunder and displace,” he says in the report shared with ACI Africa.

Expressing the ill intentions of Islamist Fulanis in the West African nation, Bishop Anagbe said in an update last month, “Jihadists often camouflage as ‘herdsmen’ but the government in power for reasons best known to it, prefers that they be called, ‘unknown gun men’”.

“Regardless of whatever nomenclature employed to shield these fundamentalists, many Nigerians now know that these are Fulani terrorist groups operating under the different names: Boko Haram, Fulani terrorists, Bandits etc., with the main intent to Islamize the country through violence,” the Nigerian Bishop who has been at the helm of Makurdi Diocese since March 2015 said.

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.