Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
A human rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) has raised an alarm over the killing of innocent Nigerians by suspected Boko Haram, herdsmen and armed bandits in North Central, North East and parts of North West and South East geopolitical zones of the country.
The group regretted that in all these killings none, not even a single culprit, till date, had been arrested, investigated and put on trial or even convicted and jailed by the Federal government.
A statement by the Chairman of Intersociety Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, said that the killings were mainly Christians. He lamented that not less than 100 of them lost their lives in Nigeria in April 2019 to Fulani jihadists or Islamic militias while others received various degrees of injuries.
It read in part: “In the past four months in 2019, (January-April), a total of 750-800 Christians have been targeted and killed by Nigeria’s mainstream anti-Christian jihadist armed groups, out of which, Fulani Islamic militias of the MACBAN are responsible for 550-600 while Boko Haram and ISWAP Islamic terrorists account for remaining 200 or more.
“In Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria, two prominent citizens-a Catholic priest and a university lecturer were also abducted and gruesomely murdered in March 2019 by the same jihadist Fulani militias. By recent independent reports, Anambra East and Anambra West council areas of Anambra State are under siege by Fulani Islamic militias who now carry out a series of abductions including abduction-for-ransom, abduction of young women-for-rape, the killing of their captives in custody and unchecked encroachment on indigenous communal lands for religious reasons.
“All forms of killings outside the law in Nigeria are strongly condemned, but more condemned is the killing of citizens who are non-violently exercising their constitutionally-guaranteed religious freedoms and the silence, inaction and conspiracy of the present central government of Nigeria headed by Mr. Muhammadu Buhari.
“It must be stated clearly that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Nigeria’s version of the Sudanese Janjaweed or genocidal camel/cattle herders’ group, has remained a registered organisation with the Federal government of Nigeria till date despite its midwifing, condoning and open support for its slaves’ jihadist and terrorist activities.
“The jihadist group is solely responsible for not less than 6,000 Christian deaths and burning or destruction of over 1,000 churches between June 2015 and December 2018. In 2018 alone, it massacred not less than 2,400 Christians and destroyed hundreds of churches. In the just past four months of 2019 (Jan-April), the jihadist group had butchered 550-600 Christians with hundreds of homes and dozens of churches torched or destroyed,” Umeagbalasi alleged.