WASHINGTON DC, 18 November - Jubilee Campaign releases their report Genocide is Loading: Finding Reasonable Basis to Believe Crimes Against Humanity Occurred during Ministerial Event on Nigeria's Invisible Genocide hosted by Save the Persecuted Christians.
The report counters the farmer-herder clashes narrative that has been used to describe the violence in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria, noting the casualty asymmetry. The report clarifies that the research and focus are on the armed, violent, radical Fulani militant groups and the violence cannot be attributed to the entire Fulani ethnic community.
The report notes that attacks by Fulani militants often happen at night or in the early morning while the community members are at home, unsuspecting of attacks and unable to respond, again countering the claim that the attacks are a result of clashes. The report also describes the advanced weaponry used by the militants and how the attacks are often well-coordinated, with militants arriving by motorcycles en masse and even by boat. The report relates cases where the rules of engagement used by the Fulani militants liken those of Islamic Jihad, with Fulani militants sending threatening messages prior to an ambush, "your land or your blood."
The report joins NGOs around the world in the continuing call for international efforts to end violence in Nigeria and hold the perpetrators to account. It concludes that Fulani militants pose a mortal threat to the predominately Christian farming tribes in the Middle Belt and surrounding states and that the Nigerian government is failing both to protect the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Click the link below to download the full report.
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