A survivor among children slain in the recent attack, photo: Compass Direct News

Another attack on Christians near Jos, Nigeria, 13 dead

Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that less than two weeks after a massive attack in Nigeria that killed 500 Christians, Muslim Fulani herdsmen today (Wednesday, March 17, 2010) unleashed more horrific violence on two Christian villages in Plateau state, killing 13 persons, including a pregnant woman and children, reports Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries.

Their story says that in attacks presumably over disputed property but with a level of violence characteristic of jihadist method and motive, men in military camouflage and others in customary clothing also burned 20 houses in Byei and Baten villages, in the Riyom Local Government Area of the state, about 45 kilometers (29 miles) from the state capital, Jos.

“The ethnic Berom Christians, who live as farmers, have long faced off with Fulani nomads who graze their cattle on the Beroms’ land,” said CDN. “State Gov. Jonah Jang condemned the killings, alleging that some unnamed persons were fueling misunderstanding among communities in conflict. Because the style of killing is typical of jihadist fundamentalists, Christian leaders suspect Islamic extremists are encouraging the attacks, throwing religious gas on low-burning land and ethnic conflicts.”

Dalyop Nyango Mandung, a survivor of the attack whose 90-year-old mother, Ngo Hwo Dongo, was killed in her room, told newsmen that the villagers were awakened by gunshots from the Muslim herdsmen who were barricading their houses. Mandung, however, distinguished the assailants in military fatigues from the Fulani herders.

“We saw them in military uniforms, about two of them were in military uniform and the Fulani were in their normal clothes,” Mandun reportedly said. “My mother was the only one killed in the family.”

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TAGS: Nigeria Jos violence persecution violence against Christians jihadist fundamentalists

[03/18/2010]

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