CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the Study
From the dawn of the 21st century with a terrible acceleration in recent years, there has been a continued increase in verified reporting of the killings, rapes, mutilations and abductions of Christians in Nigeria. Houses, churches, towns, and agricultural fields are often set on fire during these assaults. In the first six months of 2020, 1,202 Nigerian Christians were killed, according to a July 15, 2020 headline (Samuel S 2020 cited NGO report 2020). This comes on top of the 11,000 Christians killed since June 2015(Premium Times 2015). Experts and and observers are now warning of a progressive genocide as a result of the attack as this appears to be a "slow-motion war" specifically targeting Christians and churches in the Northeast states of Nigeria.
Religiously, in Nigeria the population is approximately 53 percent Muslim and 47 percent Christian—including both Protestants and Catholics. The Muslim community is primarily located in the country's northern states, while the Christians generally reside farthersouth. But both religious groups are scattered across the land(AESS journal 2006).
The Fulani in Nigeria are a part of the Peul, or Fula, ethnic group, which has existed in some form for thousands of years (Iro, 1994). Fulani are more than 20 million in Africa today, and the largest community in the tribe is located in Nigeria, where they make up one of the nation’s largest ethnic groups (Abass, 2012). The Fula people are almost solely Muslim, having converted to Islam from their traditional belief system in the 1500s, and most Fulani maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle, earning them the appellation of “Fulani herdsmen (Burton, 2016)
The attacks by Fulani herdsmen have in recent years taken more sophisticated dimensions with the use of new types of weapons and communication devices. In consequence, the sedentary agrarian communities have resorted to self-defense through local vigilante groups (Abass 2012; McGregor 2014). This has further aggravated violence, with destruction of lives and properties. Nte (2016) argued that most of the very violent conflicts and banditry crisis triggered by Fulani Herdsmen occurred in the middle-belt of Nigeria in general and Plateau, Benue and Taraba States in particular of mostly attacked are christain communities. In the case of Benue State there have been highly devastating conflicts that have claimed so many lives and properties engendered by Fulani Herdsmen in communities of local government areas such as Agatu, Guma, Gwer West, Makurdi, Kwande, Katsina-Ala and Loggo. The communal conflicts orchestrated by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State had claimed the lives of more than 5000 victims in the first half in the year 2014 (Nte, 2016).
However, the recent banditry attacks on the South East and South Western part of Nigeria by Fulani herdsmen on their hosting community(mostly Christian communities) in Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Ondo States called for proactive actions as many souls were brutally murdered , churches burnt and landed properties, like vegetative, totally destroyed by this marauding Fulani herdsmen.Hence it is on this note that this study seek to examine the menace of fulani herdsmen banditry attack on Nigeria Churches.