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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn December, herdsmen killed a Christian woman,\nMary Machief, and her baby daughter in Plateau state\u2019s Bokkos County. A\nrelative told the outlet Machief was not killed instantly but died later from\nher wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe all prayed for God to give her quick healing,\nbut God deemed it fit to take her to eternal home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christians in the northern region and in the\nMiddle Belt have experienced an uptick in violence at the hands of radical\nIslamic groups, such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Muslim Fulani herdsmen in recent\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 2018 report from the Combatting Terrorism\nCenter at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point suggested there could be as\nmany as 6,000 Islamic State-aligned militants spread over nine different cells\nin Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, it was reported that the Rev. Lawan\nAndimi, a Nigerian pastor who made headlines for praising God in a ransom\nvideo, had been executed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That video followed another video released by the\nextremist faction last month purporting to show the killing of 11 Christian aid\nworkers in Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the Islamic State recently\npublished a video showing a child soldier killing a Christian man in Nigeria.\nThe child is seen declaring that \u201c[w]e won’t stop until we take revenge for all\nthe blood that was spilled.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Faith McDonnell, the director of religious\nliberty programs at the U.S.-based think tank Institute on Religion &\nDemocracy, responded to the news of Andimi\u2019s murder by condemning the Nigerian\ngovernment\u2019s inaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is obvious that the president of Nigeria will\ndo nothing to stop this without pressure from the West,\u201d she wrote on Facebook.\n\u201cWe need President Trump to appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the region\nsoon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a news conference this month, Open Doors CEO\nDavid Curry also criticized Nigeria\u2019s government for its inability to control\nthe violence perpetrated by terrorist groups across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe great tragedy of Nigeria\u2019s ineffectual\nresponse to Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen is now parts of Cameroon and those\nother areas like Burkina Faso are greatly affected,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curry said Nigeria still represents the most\nviolent country in the world for Christians as far as Open Doors USA\u2019s data can\ntrack. The persecution watchdog ranks Nigeria at No. 12 on its 2020 World Watch\nList of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notes Open Doors: “The violence against\nChristians by militant Islamic groups in the north often ends in loss of life\nand physical injury as well as loss of property. Pray for those dealing with\nthe effects of recent violence against them. Please pray for the Lord\u2019s\nprovision in all their physical and spiritual needs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In December, Nigeria was placed for the first\ntime on the U.S. State Department\u2019s Special Watch List for countries in which\nsevere religious freedom violations are tolerated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Leah MarieAnn Klett Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 16 Christians in separate attacks in Plateau state this month amid a spate of violence carried out by various groups against believers in Nigeria. Herdsmen invaded Torok…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[99,98],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-politics-governance","tag-christians","tag-fulani-herdsmen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Plateau-Student.jpeg.jpg?resize=964%2C681&ssl=1\")
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