NIGERIA: Catholics attacked by Muslim Fulani after Presidential Elections

Heads-Up : Catholic News Agency : Dozens of people reportedly were murdered in post-election attacks on villages in Nigeria’s Benue State Wednesday, according to a diocesan official.

In an exclusive interview with ACI Africa Friday, Father Remigius Ihyula, the director of Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, described the violence. He said that staff members at the diocese have been evacuated by the military.

During the attacks, Fulani men armed with military gear descended on the Benue State capital, Makurdi, Ihyula said.“We keep wondering how ordinary herders can lay their hands on military gear. The only possible scenario is that they are getting help from the authorities,” the priest speculated. The vast majority of the Fulani tribes are Muslims, while the majority of victims are Christian.

Ihyula said that his colleagues were helping to resettle villagers that had been displaced from their homes by armed men on separate dates between Feb. 23 and March 1.

“As I speak to you, there are ongoing attacks in several places. An eyewitness called me on the day of the elections [Feb. 25] informing me that people were being slaughtered in Tyopav village. Then more attacks were reported from Anwase village. The reports of attacks kept coming,” the Nigerian priest said.

International observers are linking the attacks to the outcome of the recently announced presidential results of Nigeria’s general elections, in which an all-Muslim presidential ticket was declared the winner.

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