STORY
Fulani conflict is above all a religious war, says bishop
Original article: https://acninternational.org/in-ni- geria-a-priest-recounts-his-kidnap- ping-by-fulani-herdsmen/
During a webinar hosted by Aid to the Church in Need Inter- national (ACN), in October 2021, the speakers, among them one bishop and several priests from Nigeria, confirmed that the violence that has been plaguing the country for the past several years is not simply due to “clashes” between Muslim herdsmen and Christian farmers, over land. “It is not just about issues of grazing. For me, this is a reli- gious war” , stated Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, of the diocese of Makurdi, in Benue state. “They have an agenda, which is the Islamization of this country. And they are doing that by carefully eliminating all the Christians and occupying the territories. If it was about grazing, why kill people? And why burn their homes?” , he asked. Johan Viljoen, director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute of South Africa, and an expert on Fulani armed militia attacks in Southeast Nigeria, spoke of a “concerted, well-planned occu- pation. This is all happening under the cover of Miyetti Allah, of which President Buhari is the patron” , he said, referring
to an organization which claims to defend the rights of Fulani herdsmen. High-level state involvement is one reason why the armed forces have proven unwilling to step in and control the violence. “I don’t think the army is trying to solve anything. If anything, they would try to promote it”, explained Mr. Viljoen, observing that despite years of violence “not a single Fulani has been prosecuted for the violence”. Bishop Wilfred stressed that the armed forces lie under the di- rect control of the President and, furthermore, “all the service chiefs, from the navy, army, air force and police are Muslims”. Official figures point to around 3,000 dead from the wave of violence over the past few years, but those on the ground say that the number could be as high as 36,000, with many more displaced, destitute, or deeply traumatized by their experien- ces. With many NGOs leaving the danger zones, the Catholic Church and its institutions, with which ACN International works closely, are the only reliable alternatives to get aid to the people on the ground.
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