A major Nigerian human rights organization has published a report claiming that large-scale Muslim Fulani herders killed nearly 700 Christians as a ‘farewell gift’ to former President Muhammadu Buhari in May.
On May 29, Buhari gave over authority to the new President, Tinubu, while the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law stated in a declaration on June 12 that Fulani herders slew hundreds of Christians as a means of bidding farewell to the end of Buhari’s tenure, promoting a Christian-hostile, Muslim-supportive agenda in Africa’s most populous state.
“May 29, 2023, marked the end of the tenure of Nigerian Islamist hardliners who head their citizens’ offices, and ‘farewell’ prayers were offered for the jihadist Fulani herders, who marked the end of their offices’ tenure by killing not less than 700 defenseless Christians in May 2023 (the month of transfer),” said a compiled report by a Catholic human rights activist and the organization’s chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi.
The report details alleged Christian killings in several states, stating that “Plateau [state] gave 350 Christian lives as ‘sacrifice,’ Benue 190, Kaduna 100, Nasarawa 62, Niger 50, Taraba 40, Borno/Yobe 40, etc.”
The announcement claims that “in the past 60 days, between April 12 and June 12, 2023, not less than 1,100 helpless Christians were felled to dying by Nigerian government-supported Islamic jihadists,” declaring a total of “a daily average of 17” Christian demise.
A new report confirms trends in a document dated April 10th, claiming that at least 53,350 Christians have been killed since the Islamic insurgency in 2009, including the burning of 18,100 churches and 2,200 schools.
According to the report, during the eight-year tenure of Buhari and Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna state, where most of the violence is orchestrated by Fulani militants, at least 31,350 Christians have been killed and over 200 pastors have been attacked. According to the report, the recent killings were seen as a farewell gift to former President Buhari, highlighting a concerning Christian-hostile agenda.
