OMUKU, Nigeria — The deaths of nearly 150 Christians have been reported in targeted attacks on religious minorities in Nigeria, Cairo and India in recent weeks, according to various reports from religious liberty advocates and news agencies.
Among the latest attacks, unidentified assailants killed between 14 and 16 Christians leaving a midnight New Year’s Eve service Jan. 1 in Omuku town in Rivers State, Nigeria, the BBC and Nigerian Independent news reported Jan. 2. The gunmen fired at random and at close range, according to police who said the violence might have been related to rivalry among gangs in Nigeria’s oil-producing regions in the Middle Belt.
Also in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, suspected Fulani herdsmen killed four Christians and injured 10 others during a celebration two days before Christmas in the Southern Kaduna village of Nimdem, religious freedom advocate International Christian Concern (ICC) reported Dec. 26, 2017.
The gunmen attacked around 10 p.m. on Dec. 23, Pastor Gideon Mutum told ICC, “during an interdenominational carol that comes every Christmas with Bible quiz, drama, songs and preaching.” It was not clear whether the attack occurred inside a church building.
Among deadly attacks elsewhere, a masked gunman killed two Christians on Jan. 1 outside their business in Cairo, the London Daily Express news reported. The double murder followed the killing of nine people, including eight Coptic Christians, as they left St. Menas “Mar Mina” Coptic Orthodox church south of Cairo on Dec. 29.
In the largest and deadliest of the attacks, raiding Fulani herdsmen killed more than 100 Christians during several raids in Adamawa State, Nigeria, on Dec. 4–11. (BP)
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