Sunday, July 8, 2012 (11:29 pm)
(ADDS RISING DEATH TOLL, MORE DETAILS FROM BOSNEWSLIFE STRINGER, COMMENTS RIGHTS GROUP)
By BosNewsLife Africa Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos
Going to church is dangerous in Nigeria these days.
ABUJA, NIGERIA (
BosNewsLife)--
Nigerian authorities said Sunday, July 8, that at least 63 people were
killed when suspected Muslim herdsmen armed with guns and machetes
stormed Christian villages, while missionaries claimed over 50 pastors
and missionary leaders died in separate violence.
The attacks rocked Christian villages near the city of Jos in central
Nigeria’s Plateau State since Saturday, July 8, said Mustapha Salisu,
spokesman for a special taskforce made up of policemen and soldiers
deployed in the area to curb years of violence.
Officials initially said that as many as 37 people died in the raids and
reprisal attacks that followed, but death toll estimates later rose to
over 60 killed.
The Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted Mark Lipdo, who runs a
Christian advocacy group known as the Stefanos Foundation, as saying
that 13 villages have been attacked. He said they were all Christian.