(LifeSiteNews) — Islamic militants have once again attacked a Christian village in Nigeria, killing three and injuring several more.
The murderous attack by the Fulani militants occurred on August 11, just two months after Islamists massacred over 200 people in the same area in Benue State. The assault targeted community in Yelewata, which is nearly 100 percent Christian and mostly consists of subsistence farmers.
“The victims had gone to farm when the armed herders struck,” an anonymous government official told a Nigerian news outlet. “Three people were killed, and three others escaped with injuries, while some managed to flee unharmed.”
According to Open Doors, thousands were displaced after the massacre that killed over 200 in June in the middle of the night, but some men stayed behind to farm their land to provide for their families.
The Yelewata community is still grieving the massacre that took place in June, Open Doors reports. Most of the inhabitants are still in IDP (internally displaced people) camps and most have lost their source of income and are therefore in need of help, particularly food supplies.
Open Doors has launched an emergency campaign to help provide 9,000 Christians from that area with aid over the coming months.
Jo Newhouse, spokesperson for Open Doors’ work in sub-Saharan Africa, said after the latest attack:
Open Doors condemns in the strongest terms possible the attacks in Benue State. For this pattern of attack on mostly Christian villages to continue without restraint is totally unacceptable. Christians in the Middle Belt of Nigeria need to know their government is willing to do what is needed to secure their safety of all her citizens, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.
During the massacre in June by the Fulani herdsmen, the attackers set fire to to the temporary shelters housing Christians in the village after they tried to attack the village church that was sheltering 700 Christians.
“There is no question about who carried out the attack,” Yelewata parish priest Father Ukama Jonathan Angbianbee said at the time, according to ACN UK. “They were definitely Fulanis. They were shouting ‘Alahu Akhbar’ [God is great].”
Pope Leo XIV responded to the massacre, stating in his June 15 Angelus: “I pray that security, justice and peace prevail in Nigeria, a beloved country that has suffered various forms of violence. I pray in particular for the rural Christian communities in the state of Benue, who have unceasingly been victims of violence.”
