(RepublicanDaily.org) – Nigeria is experiencing a record-high in terms of the number of Christians killed in the country, with a U.K.-based organization reporting in February that more than 80,000 Christians lost their lives to violence perpetuated by Islamist militants. This comes in the wake of the Nigerian military’s recent killing of students peacefully protesting the lack of security for the country’s Christian population.
Students were protesting the persistence of killings of members of the Christian community in the country’s central Nigeria Plateau state, attacks which have been largely perpetrated by the Muslim Fulani militia. The said state is home to a large segment of the Christ-believing population in the country. Just in April, Fulani militants assaulted the Chikam village in the state, killing close to 20 people – including a mother and her child – in a two-day attack.
The same day the militants attacked, students from the Plateau State University were carrying the body of a fellow student who was killed when members of the Nigerian military opened fire on the group, At least one student was added to the tally of the dead that day.
Nigerian authorities have defended the killing, alleging that the students had supposedly set fire to a military outpost and that the soldiers were simply attempting to defend themselves and prevent more damage. The Nigerian military also said that they did not open fire on the students but rather the student who died and others who were injured were only hit by “stray bullets.”
Just days before, Fulani militants on motorcycle convoys had killed more than 40 Christian farmers in the area.
Release International, the U.K.-based non-profit organization that supports persecuted Christians worldwide, is calling for an investigation into the attacks.
“‘Release International has repeatedly reported the failure of Nigerian military to protect Christian villagers,” the organization said in a statement.
Many Christians and Christian communities in Nigeria routinely suffer from attacks by Islamist extremist militants, who commit outright assaults and murder, but also at times kidnap their victims and perform all sorts of horrendous violence against Christians in the country.
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