The Fulani herders launched an attack on Christians from two different directions.

According to local sources, Fulani herders killed two Christians on October 9 in the central Nigerian state of Benue and two more on October 3 in a different part of the state.

In northeastern Benue State’s Logo County, herders on Wednesday attacked the village of Ayilamo, killing university student Solomon Kwanta and another Christian, area residents said.

“Apart from the two Christians killed during the attack, many other Christians were injured,” said Bernard Chia. “Armed Fulani herdsmen attacked Ayilamo community in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State at about midnight on Wednesday.”

Chia said Kwanta was a final-year student at the University of Calabar who was back in the village on break.

“Your prayers are needed, please,” said resident Aandosoo David, adding that the Primary Health Care Center in Ayilamo treated villagers hurt in the attack.

Tyongi Emmanuel, another village resident, said the situation was dire.

Villager Tsavsar Msughaondo told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, “The entire community is in the process of fleeing due to the widespread displacement we have experienced.”

“Fulani herdsmen have taken over our ancestral lands; we are therefore calling on the Nigerian government to quickly intervene here in the Ayilamo area of Benue State to end these unprovoked attacks on us.”

In Kwande County, in the southeastern part of the state, herders on October 3 killed two Christians in Tse Wende, villagers said.

Fabian Terseer identified the slain Christians as Terwse Azege and Orseer Kende.

“Attacks by armed Fulani herders have become a common occurrence here,” Terseer said. “Unfortunately, media organizations have not given adequate coverage to these incidents.

The sad thing, too, is that the Nigerian government has not deemed it necessary to take steps towards ending these attacks on our communities. For how long are we expected to endure these killing epidemics?”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views. However, some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

According to Christian leaders in Nigeria, herders are herdsmen. In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, herders attack Christian communities to extort their lands and impose Islam because desertification has made it harder for them to sustain their herds.

According to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report, Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world for Christians, with 4,118 people killed for their faith between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023.

More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as in the previous year.

Nigeria was ranked third in the number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings, including hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with a total of 750 incidents reported in the WWL report.