₦airaland Forum

Herdsmen Attacks: 20,300 killed in South East, 19,000 churches, 3,000 Christian schools destroyed — Inter-Society alleges

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Inter-Society) has raised alarm over what it described as a systematic and violent campaign targeting Christians and ethnic communities in Nigeria, particularly in the South East and the Middle Belt regions.

In a statement released on Easter Monday in Owerri, the group’s chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi and head of Democracy and Governance, Chinwe Umeche, alleged that since the middle of 2015, no fewer than 20,300 defenseless residents of the South East have been killed by suspected jihadist Fulani herdsmen and allegedly complicit federal security forces.

The group also claimed that across the country—especially in the old Middle Belt states of Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna—approximately 19,000 churches and over 3,000 Christian schools and sacred learning centers have been destroyed, sacked, or burned beyond recognition.

According to the statement: “Shocking statistics on the ground across the country’s six geopolitical regions have clearly shown that an estimated 40 million indigenous Northern Christians have been uprooted since the July 2009 Boko Haram uprising. This displacement has escalated significantly since mid-2015 with the alleged takeover of state power and resources by radical elements within the Muslim Fulani population and their Hausa allies.”

The group alleged that these Christians have been forced to flee their ancestral lands to avoid being raped, abducted, murdered, or forcibly converted to radical Islamism. It added that many communities have been violently taken over, renamed, and converted into settlements stocked with arms and cattle.

From January to April 2025 alone, Inter-Society claimed that between 1,500 and 2,000 Christians were killed in Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna. It said 800 to 1,000 more were likely abducted and taken to jihadist camps, while over 1,000 homes were also torched or destroyed.

In the South East, the group reiterated that over 20,300 people had been “hacked to death or killed” since 2015 on the basis of their ethnicity and faith, allegedly by jihadists and “federally deployed biased security forces.”

Inter-Society condemned what it described as the “gross inaction” of security agencies, accusing them of “deceitful post-crisis responses” and “discriminatory law enforcement” that fails to prevent the continuous attacks.

MightySparrow:
Truly Igbo is marginalized.

Elusive001:
But this same middle-belt peeps fought the Igbos along side their Fulani masters. What the Igboman saw close to 60 years ago.

Where are Gowon, Danjuma, Senior, and co? Gowon done mute.

The Benue State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of three suspected members of a notorious five-man kidnapping gang that has been terrorising Otukpo Local Government Area and its environs.

DAILY POST reports that the suspects, identified as Ibrahim Salleh, Abuh Umaru and Ashimu, were apprehended in the early hours of Sunday, April 6, 2025, at Ogoli-Ugboju through coordinated efforts by local security agencies and the Executive Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Prince Maxwell Ogiri.

Confirming the arrest, the Public Relations Officer of the Benue State Police Command, SP Catherine Anene, said investigation is ongoing.


She told DAILY POST, “Yes, there are ongoing operations in Otukpo that led to the arrest of these suspects. Investigation is ongoing.”

Ogiri had earlier announced the breakthrough, praising the gallant efforts of the local security forces.

He assured residents that further action was underway to track down the remaining two gang members and their local collaborators, reiterating his administration’s commitment to restoring peace and safety in the area.

Mbanda:
I love the way they handed the case to a yoruba man. So that it will be on record that a yoruba man either kpai Kanu or sentenced him to jail. So that the bad blood between the two tribes will continue.

eagleu:
Very sad indeed.
Nigeria is like the Savannah where 3 or 4 lions lay ambush and attack a large herd of buffaloes numbering 100s. Note each buffalo weighs 3x more than 1 lion. These lions figured out a way to terrorize the buffaloes, scatter them, and them pick them out one by one for dinner.
The Fulani plan in Nigeria didn't start today, 50 years ago they figured out a way to turn Nigeria, especially the Benue Plateau people into killers of Igbo people, for no good reason--- really. The mostly Christian Igbos were the only obstacle to their dream of conquering Nigeria. Fulanis recruited the Gowons, the Danjumas, and the Usenis to decimate Igbos, and they surely did.
Today, Gowon "prays" while Danjuma is busy enjoying the loot of the war with very productive oil field. His kinsmen? Well, they're now mostly in IDP camps while their villages have taken over by Fulanis from foreign countries, and of course their villages have been since renamed with befitting Fulani names.
When you tolerate or participate in evil on your neighbors, don't forget that you are next in line.

Sleekfingers:
😆🤣🤣🤣🤣

No Northerner have right to complain...... because they have been doing such since 1960...... As a matter of fact, if not for federal character. The North need to be ignored......
The people with the right to make such statements are the South South and southeast......


. Despite from the Southwest. I don't think , Tinubu is doing the right thing . By not balancing his appointments

PaellaPaella:
Mumu, how did he deceive your stupid tribe for being honest with what happened in 1966? I'm sure you are drunk or just finished one pipe of India hemp, take your frustration to your useless tribe and parents who rendered your life useless

fickleawolowo:
Don't mind the slowpoke with no common sense

fickleawolowo:
You are nothing but a fool

Bookhub:
Noisy tribe you lots have refused to let go out of Nigeria,it seems you lots love the noise a lot.

Bookhub:
Why use the phrase " noisy tribe"
You go cry tire the coup is an awolowo coup.