12 Christians, Including a Pastor, Killed in Suspected Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria; Others Kidnapped

Christians faithful hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during prayer and penance for peace and security in Nigeria in Abuja on March 1, 2020. The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria gathered faithful as well as other Christians and other people to pray for security and to denounce the barbaric killings of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria.

Islamic extremists believed to be affiliated with Boko Haram reportedly killed several Christians, including a pastor, and kidnapped several others in an attack carried out in Nigeria’s conflict-ridden northeast earlier this week.

According to The Associated Press, the insurgents killed at least 12 people in the attack on the Takulashi village near Chibok in Borno state on Sunday morning. The militants are also said to have abducted nine women and young girls.

Sources who spoke with Morning Star News, a nonprofit news organization that covers global Christian persecution, reported that all 12 people killed in the incident were Christians.

One of the deceased victims was the pastor of a church belonging to the Church of Christ in Nations denomination.

“They also burned down houses and looted food items from our houses,” area resident Ishaku Musa told the outlet. “At the end of the shootings and looting, which lasted about two hours, 12 of our people in the community were killed, three women were kidnapped and also four children were abducted by the Boko Haram attackers.”

Musa explained that the gunmen arrived in the village in six gun-trucks and three other heavy-duty vehicles. The militants reportedly fired their weapons indiscriminately.

Residents in the area are accusing the original Boko Haram faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, of carrying out the attack.

The group, which has carried out several deadly attacks on villages in Nigeria’s northeast over the last several years, is not to be confused with the breakaway faction Islamic State West Africa Province, which also operates in the Lake Chad region.

The attack occurred less than 15 miles away from where Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from a government school in Chibok in April 2014, an abduction that garnered international attention. While some of the abducted Chibok students have been freed, over 100 remain missing.

Uba Kolo, a member of the local Civilian Joint Task Force vigilante group, told The AP that the militants involved in Sunday’s attack killed males and abducted females.

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Source: Christian Post