DONGA, Nigeria — In Taraba state in northeast Nigeria more than 100 Muslim Fulani herdsmen invaded Sabon Gida Shagogo village in the Donga local government area in the early morning Dec. 17, 2014, area resident Ahijo Uhaa Gbasha said. Attacking at about 4 a.m. when military soldiers on routine patrol had just left the village, the assailants set fire to church buildings and houses as they killed 10 Christians, he said.
Taraba state police spokesman Joseph Kwaji confirmed the attack, adding that security agencies have stepped up efforts to curtail violence against unarmed citizens.
In Kaduna state on the same day five Christians were killed and 15 houses were destroyed in an early morning attack on the predominantly Christian village of Angwan Dauda about six miles from Fadan Karshi. This apparently was in retaliation for soldiers shooting a Muslim herdsman to death after he stabbed a soldier trying to arrest him for attacking a Christian farmer.
Among the victims were a 1-year-old boy and his mother. The father of the baby was killed in an ambush Dec. 15 by the same Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
The attack comes after similar attacks by Fulani herdsmen in Fadan Karshi, Angwan Ganye and Karshi Daji towns.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency reported more than 1,500 Christians died in similar attacks in the area in 2014.
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