A Catholic Bishop has accused the authorities in Nigeria of the suspected supply of arms to an Islamist terrorist network, which he claims has infiltrated federal and state governments.
Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan, Kaduna state, said he believed that the government has done little or nothing to stem “a wave of terror” by Islamist Fulani herdsmen against Christians and others, which has claimed the lives of 1,000 people within the last year.
In one of the latest incidents on 15th April, 12 worshippers gathered for an Easter Vigil Service lost their lives in an attack apparently carried out by Fulani herdsmen.
Describing the Fulani extremists as a “sister organisation” to terror group Boko Haram, Bishop Bagobiri said that, in spite of the many sightings of the Easter Vigil attackers, no arrests had been made.
He said: “Given the sophisticated nature of the weapons used in the [Islamists’] operations, it is suspected that their kin in government and the military are able to supply these arms to them.
“Fulanis are in charge of customs, immigration and the ministry of internal affairs in Nigeria today. Therefore it is easy to bring dangerous weapons through our borders with no one to prevent this.
“Again, government at both the state and federal level is headed by Fulanis, and they seem to be more sympathetic to the aggressors and killers than to the vulnerable victims.”
Bishop Bagobiri’s comments follow a homily given at the funeral of some of the victims of 15th April.
Of the Christians killed, as well as those displaced in Nigeria, he said: “This is exactly what the Fulani jihadists are doing today in southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt region and now with incursions into both the south-east and south-west of Nigeria.”
Source: ACN
