UK/Nigeria: Nigerian Bishop tells UK parliamentarians Church facing ‘Islamist extermination’

A bishop in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has denounced the mass killing of Christians by Islamist extremists and militant Fulani herdsmen at an event yesterday (Tuesday, 25th March) in the UK Parliament.

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi – who is visiting the UK as a guest of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) – told parliamentarians about how his flock have seen their homes torched and been forced to flee to internal displacement persons’ (IDP) camps.

The bishop said that Benue State, which includes Makurdi, has been attacked by Islamist extremists and Fulani herdsmen targeting Christian communities and has seen farmers driven from their land, churches burned, and priests, Religious and lay members killed.

Bishop Anagbe said: “The militant Fulani herdsmen bear on defenceless villagers without consequence.

“They follow orders to conquer, kill, and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDP camps.”

He added that for his people, their experience today “can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination”.

Bishop Anagbe condemned the lack of action by the Nigerian government to tackle this violence and insecurity.

He said: “When we call for help to the police and the army, they do not come. At the end of 2024, several villages were warned by the attackers of the upcoming violence, and the leaders called the police for defence, ahead of time.

“But they did not come, and the Christmas massacres, almost customary, took place killing hundreds in Plateau and Benue, with the worst massacre claiming 47 lives.”

The Bishop called on the UK government and parliamentarians to work with the Nigerian government to bring relief to the suffering of those who have fled the violence and are now in Internal Displacement Camps.

The prelate said: “I ask you to condition the diplomatic and economic relations of the UK with Nigeria on the return of the IDPs to their ancestral homes and help for them to rebuild their lives.

“I implore this august body to insist on the return and rehabilitation of all IDPs to their ancestral lands, and not to relocate them to other constructed camps elsewhere”

Bishop Anagbe also issued a plea, calling on the UK to ensure justice for those who have been displaced.

He said: “Justice for the IDPs should also include seeking punishment for the perpetrators, a restitution of the dignity of the victims.

“Payment of full compensation to all victims of religious persecution and insecurity. Ensuring that victims of religious persecution get justice.”

Speaking after the event, ACN (UK)’s national director, Dr Caroline Hull, said: “The powerful statement by Bishop Anagbe here today in Parliament brings home the horror and misery facing the Christian population of Benue State.

“At ACN, we are helping to support Bishop Anagbe and the faithful of his diocese, but we can only do so much.

“This violence and insecurity must be addressed by the Nigerian government, so they can ensure the right to freedom from religious persecution for the Christians in Nigeria in accordance with international law.”

The bishop’s remarks echo those he made two weeks ago in the US Congress to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.