Nigeria: Ethnic cleansing in the south

200+ people have been killed in almost daily attacks in the northern and north-eastern regions since 30 June by Boko Haram. But lesser reported violence rages farther south, claiming thousands of Christian lives. Militants among the ethnic Fulani, a predominantly Muslim and nomadic population of cattle herders, are suspected of killing Christians in the states of Plateau and Taraba in recent months. The two states form the eastern end of Nigeria's ‘Middle Belt’ (states straddling the pre-colonial line dividing Nigeria's Muslim north from its Christian south) and the most recent violence resulted from 500 Fulani cattle disappearing with suspicion falling on the Berom, an indigenous Christian population. Fulani raiding parties killed 30+ people, including a pastor of the Church of Christ in Nigeria. Cattle rustling and land disputes provide a pretext for the violence across the Middle Belt. For a report on Non-Boko Haram violence against Christians in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria go to: http://theanalytical.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Migration-and-Violent-Conflict-in-Divided-Societies-March-2015.pdf

Pray: for an end to the Hausa-Fulani Muslim oligarchy that has used colonial legacies, political policies and religious sentiments in order to conquer and dominate the Middle Belt region. (Pr.21:15)
More: www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2015/07/3924562