It took the bold interventions of some United States congressional members to draw the attention of the global community to the long known realities of constant bombardments and targeted killings of largely Christian communities in some selected northern states by mostly Jihadists combatants, islamists terrorists and Fulani herders searching for fertile lands to feed their starving cows.

Even when the body of evidence are so overwhelming for any contrary arguments to be entertained, some Nigerians, unfortunately including some Christian clerics who out of ethnic sentiments, bigotry or pecuniary benefits they get from the current administration, have doubted the existence of any kind of systematic killings of Christians in Nigeria. Their argument is that Muslims have also been killed by the terrorists. But how does the killing of Muslims watered down the heavy evidence of persistent killings of Christians and the destruction of their churches? What about the fact that both the President and his Vice are Muslims in a Country of multiplicity of religions and cultures? Is this not a political genocide by the All Progressives Congress at the National level?

Fortunately, the Internet does not sleep. So what I intend to do today is to present only a few publications by some notable influential newspapers on cases of genocide executed against Christians by the sets of terrorists I listed above and the evidence of claims of responsibility by the killers.

During the last administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, a certain Plateau state Chief Imam was awarded one of Nigeria’s highest honours by one of Nigeria’s most religious bigots and divisive regional warlords Muhammadu Buhari under whose government, Fulani terrorists got a lot of lethal weapons to unleash violence on Christian farmers.

The Chief Imam prevented the killings of over 300 Christians who ran and hid inside his mosque in a locality of Plateau State which came under attacks by murderous Fulani tertorists. Around January 18, 2018, Punch Newspaper reported that the dean of Faculty of Humanities, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Umar Labdo, claimed that Benue State belongs to Fulani by right of conquest.

His claim came in the wake of the recent clash between herdsmen and farmers in the state, as well as the anti-grazing law enacted by the state government.

Speaking to newsmen in Kano State, Mr Labdo disclosed that half of the state is part of the Bauchi Emirate and the other half is part of the Adamawa Emirate, adding that no one had the right to expel Fulani from the state.

“Benue state belongs to the Fulani people by right of conquest. This is because half of the state is part of the Bauchi Emirate and the other half is part of the Adamawa Emirate.

“Benue is therefore part and parcel of the Sokoto Caliphate. So, no one has the right to expel the Fulani from Benue under any guise,” he declared.

Mr Labdo, who is the National Director, Fulbe Political Awareness Committee, FULPAC, also called on Fulani across Nigeria to participate fully in politics.

He alleged that failure to participate in politics was the reason why the Fulani were facing the current problems in the country.

Mr Labdo, a professor, called on Fulani to acquire and keep their voters card safely wherever they are and make sure they vote the right person that would care and protect their lives during elections.

“I call on my fellow Fulani, especially the wandering Fulani to make sure they acquire voters’ card. They should also make sure they keep their card safely and vote for the person that will care and protect them.

“I call on the Fulani to engage in block-voting. We have the highest population in Africa, so if we engage in block-voting, we will be voting the people of our choice,” he said.

If truth be said, this statement was gave the Fulani terrorists the intellectual impetus to launch massive bloody attacks in many Benue villages which continues till today. The Fulani killer terrorists even seized over 100 communities from the Indigenous Christian communities. For emphasis, this lecturer said: “Benue state belongs to the Fulani people by right of conquest. This is because half of the state is part of the Bauchi Emirate and the other half is part of the Adamawa Emirate.

“Benue is therefore part and parcel of the Sokoto Caliphate. So, no one has the right to expel the Fulani from Benue under any guise.”

Mr Labdo, who is the National Director, Fulbe Political Awareness Committee (FULPAC), also called on Fulani across Nigeria to participate fully in politics. He alleged that failure to participate in politics was the reason why the Fulani were facing the current problems in the country.

Mr Labdo, a professor, called on Fulani to acquire and keep their voters card safely wherever they are and make sure they vote the right person that would care and protect their lives during elections.

“I call on my fellow Fulani, especially the wandering Fulani to make sure they acquire voters’ card. They should also make sure they keep their card safely and vote for the person that will care and protect them.

“I call on the Fulani to engage in block-voting. We have the highest population in Africa, so if we engage in block-voting, we will be voting the people of our choice,” he said.

TVC NEWS June 25th 2018 then followed up with another report about the cause of the killings of Christians in Plateau State which the Chairman, North Central zone of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Danladi Ciroma has condemned the attacks, stating that the perpetrators were on a revenge mission.

Ciroma said Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks, 94 cows were rustled by alleged armed Berom youth in Fan village, another 36 cows killed by Berom youths which could have led to this retaliatory attack by the herdsmen.

He said there were a lot of criminals in Berom communities, but the communities are hiding them.

Ciroma stated that the attacks will stop as, soon as the security agencies stop Berom youths from stealing Fulani cows. Comes The Guardian newspaper which reported on January 8th 2018 that Fulani claimed responsibility for attacks in Benue state.

Recalled that Fulani terrorists attacked several villages in Benue state just before Christmas. The Fulani have taken responsibility for the attack. In a statement by Garus Gololo, a leader of Miyetti Allah cattle breeders in Benue State, he tries to say that this attack was conducted in retaliation for the theft of cattle from Fulani who were grazing in the area and trying to leave the state. As of now, there has been no other evidence that this theft of cattle has taken place. Also, the villages attacked are not the same as those that supposedly stole the cattle. This attack is just another case of Fulani killing Christian farmers in their ongoing attempt to kill off Christianity in the North.

A leader of Miyetti Allah cattle breeders in Benue State, Garus Gololo has revealed why Fulani herdsmen attacked some communities in Benue state.

He said their action was a reprisal for alleged theft of cows.

Herdsmen had attacked communities in Guma and Logo local government areas of the state between Monday, January 1 and Tuesday, January 2.

The incident left scores dead, including nearly a dozen livestock guards.

In a chat with BBC Pidgin, Gololo explained that the herdsmen were only defending themselves from thieves.

He claimed that over 1,000 cows were stolen at Nengere, a community in the state when the herdsmen were moving out of Benue to Taraba state.

“As we dey relocate go Taraba State through Nassarawa State, for border town of Nengere, thief come collect 1,000 cows from us, so we sef fight dem back”, he said.

Gololo added that the crisis broke out while the herdsmen were trying to protect and defend themselves and their property.

Meanwhile, Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has debunked an allegation that he is the chief financier of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).

The association is the national body of Fulani herdsmen.

The Vanguard newspaper of December 3, 2016 reported then Fulani born governor of Kaduna State as confirming paying killer

Fulani terrorists to in his word stop killings in Southern Kaduna. Southern Kaduna state is over 90% Christian communities.

The then Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, had said his government has traced some violent, aggrieved Fulani to their countries and paid them to stop the killings of Southern Kaduna natives and the destruction of their communities saying that the renewed violence is carried out by bandits.

El-Rufai made this known while fielding questions from some select Journalists in his office in Kaduna.

He said: “For southern Kaduna, we didn’t understand what was going on and we decided to set up a committee under Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) to find out what was going on there. What was established was that the root of the problem has a history starting from the 2011 post-election violence.

“Fulani herdsmen from across Africa bring their cattle down towards Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria. The moment the rains starts around March, April, they start moving them up to go back to their various communities and countries.

“Unfortunately, it was when they were moving up with their cattle across Southern Kaduna that the elections of 2011 took place and the crisis trapped some of them.

“Some of them were from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal. Fulanis are in 14 African countries and they traverse this country with the cattle.

“So many of these people were killed, cattle lost and they organised themselves and came back to revenge.

“So a lot of what was happening in Southern Kaduna was actually from outside Nigeria. We got a hint that the late Governor Patrick Yakowa got this information and he sent someone to go round some of these Fulani communities, but of course after he died, the whole thing stopped. That is what we inherited. But the Agwai committee established that.

“We took certain steps. We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop killing.

“In most of the communities, once that appeal was made to them, they said they have forgiven. There are one or two that asked for monetary compensation. They said they have forgiven the death of human beings, but want compensation for cattle. We said no problem, and we paid some. As recently as two weeks ago, the team went to Niger republic to attend one Fulani gathering that they hold every year with a message from me.

So why is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu denying the obvious fact that there is genocide of Christians in Nigeria which is even ongoing as we write? In Kaduna state, as Church was attacked, the Pastor killed by Jihadists and over three dozen worshippers were whisked off into the deadly forests in Kaduna where they are still been held.

On the eve of Christmas of 2023, over 250 Christians who were celebrating Christmas were killed by armed Fulani insurgents and these killers are actively carrying out more killings and no effort has been made to bring these killers to justice. The heart of the matter is that those who kill Christians including those who openly stoned Deborah Samuel a Christian student of College of Education Sokoto are still roaming the streets because Sokoto State government and all the security agents who witnessed the heinous crime have refused to arrest the killers who stoned her to death for alleged offence against the religion of Islam. These are the issues. So when President Donald John Trump claims that there is a genocide of Christians in Nigeria, he is saying the truth and nothing but the truth. The Nigerian government must wake up and arrest these killers and bring them to justice or alternatively, the USA can take swift justice to these terrorists whose territorial areas of occupation and control are so well known even by politicians in Katsina who are actively negotiating truce with these terrorists.

•Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko is the Founder of Nigeria's Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) and was National Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC).