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Aid to the Church in Need
World News

Nigerian bishop says Church is doing more that the government to protect Christians

by Eno Adeogun

Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of Makurdi said the more than 100 Christians deaths this year alone in the Middle Belt region was a result of the militant nomadic herdsmen being supplied "sophisticated weapons".

In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Anagbe said: "The Fulani tribesmen for the most part live in the forests and cannot afford the luxury of such sophisticated weapons - so who is funding them?

 

"There is a clear agenda - a plan - to Islamise all of the areas that are currently predominantly Christian in the so-called Middle Belt of Nigeria."

Bishop Anagbe said eleven parishes in his diocese had come under attacks from militant herdsmen in Benue state where predominantly Christians live.

Highlighting the failure of the Nigerian government to quell the extent of violence in the Middle Belt, Bishop Anagbe said: "When the attacks take place, there are never any police or soldiers present."

Father Tobias Buture, from the Maiduguri diocese also criticised repeated security failures.

He told ACN: "The inhabitants of Maiduguri see a lack of transparency and honesty on the part of the authorities."

ACN Jaco Klamer

Bishop Anagbe said the Church is doing more to help Nigerians than the government, referencing the more than 100,000 internally displaced people living in four separate camps in his Makurdi diocese.

"The Church is helping the people whereas the government is not helping us at all in this case," he claimed.

Requesting prayer and support, Bishop Anagbe said: "Please pray for us and make yourself spokesmen for the suffering our community is going through. We need people to raise their voices in our defence."

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