As victims of Benue Christmas period terrorist attacks were reportedly laid to rest yesterday amidst wailing, prominent Pastors in Nigeria have been admonished to mobilise support for their families.
It would be recalled that some assailants, reportedly Fulani herdsmen, invaded the Dowchai community, also known as Gidan Ado, in Riyom county, Plateau State and murdered 22 people, including a one-year-old and a 13-year-old.
In a separate attack in Benue state on Christmas Day, another group also believed to be Fulani herdsmen, attacked a cluster of five predominantly Christian villages in Kwande county, killing 33 people and setting fire to homes.
Consequently, the lead Bishop of the Worldwide Anglican Church, WAC, in Nigeria, Bishop Seun Adeoye, pleaded with the well-to-do in society to assist the families of the slain people.
Adeoye, while speaking with newsmen in Osogbo, expressed shock and described the decision of Christian leaders in both states and the country to keep mute over the incident as unfortunate.
His words: “Fifty innocent souls were brutally silenced, and two weeks after, our leaders in Christians Association Nigeria (CAN) in the two states and at the national level are still deaf and dumb. Nothing has been heard from them up until now. Too bad!
“And in the South of Nigeria, we were busy eating the Christmas chickens and drinking wine while some communities and families in the North were mourning and living under the most terrifying conditions daily in their homelands.
Bishop Adeoye called on law enforcement agents to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous act and bring them to justice to serve as a deterrent to others with similar intentions.
