Nigerian Diocese of Kafanchan worried about killings

Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria, Fr. Ibrahim Yakubu, has restated the Church’s position that the crisis in Southern Kaduna is being carried out by Fulani herdsmen who are on a Jihadi mission.

Fr. Yakubu said events of the past years were enough confirmation that the herdsmen had an agenda.

“First of all, all the villages that have suffered these attacks are villages that are either 100 or 90 per cent Christian”, he told New Telegraph.

“Even where you have Muslim settlements, you will discover that their houses are never touched. In most cases, they will appear to have had foreknowledge of the attacks. I am saying this because before any attack occurs, they are seen moving out.

“Second, the attackers while carrying out the attacks, would be shouting ‘Mu kashe arna’ (Kill the pagans). This leaves no one in doubt that the attackers are on a mission.

“Why didn’t the so-called Jihadists wage war against Christians in Zaria and other towns in the northern part of the state where they are in the minority?

“The position of the Christians in Zaria and other Muslim-dominated places is very clear to them that they are a minority and respect such position.”

On the statement by Jamaatu Nasril Islam that more Muslims had been killed in the crisis, Fr. Yakubu replied: “I challenge them to come out with their own statistics showing the towns and villages where they were attacked by a number more than the one of the Christians.”

“I do not dispute the fact of their living in Southern Kaduna for more than a century. Things were never that bad, why now?” he queried.

(Wale Odunsi, The Daily Post, Nigeria)