Gatestone | 042618
Two days ago in Nigeria, on April 24, around 30 Muslim herdsmen stormed a church during early morning mass and massacred nearly 20 parishioners and two clergymen.
Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha were slaughtered while officiating at the altar of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Mbalom village, Benue. Worshippers were gathered in the church for the daily 5:30 a.m. service when they heard gunshots.
“People started scampering and wailing,” said Terhemen Angor, a local resident. Several people were “gunned down in cold blood while many sustained injuries including bullet wounds… After attacking the church, the invaders descended on the community and razed over 60 houses. The community is on fire and deserted, people are fleeing to neighbouring villages hoping to find a safe haven for their families.”
As in similar occurrences, “concerted efforts to get [a] reaction from the Benue Police Command failed,” according to Vanguard News. As far back as January 3, and further indicative of the authorities’ indifference, one of the slain reverends, Fr. Gor had written on Facebook, “Living in fear. The fulani herdsmen are still around us in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around us. No weapons to depend on ourselves.”