10/25/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – In late June 2018, Fulani militants raided and killed more than 230 people in Plateau State, Nigeria. Less than one week later, I was walking the same ground where my brothers and sisters in Christ lost their lives.

As our team drove through the villages of Barkin Ladi, the local government area that suffered the majority of the casualties, I witnessed the pure devastation that this attack had placed upon the community. We drove passed count­less houses that had been burned down or demolished. We saw churches that had been destroyed, leaving no central location for the community to hold the many funerals that the attack required. Many farms had clearly been ravaged by animals and trampled by moving cattle. Many of the smaller communities out­side of the main town were abandoned.

We visited with local pastors and some of the displaced families that were taking refuge in the last standing church compound in town. What struck me the most was the lack of extreme emotion over the situation that had just taken place. When I met with those who had lost family members, they spoke as if it was just another normal day. In less than a week, the tears had dried and the community had returned to life as normal, or at least as normal as life can be after such traumatic events.

This atmosphere of normalcy stood in stark contrast against the fact that the town and surrounding areas were still heavily occupied by Fulani herders. Though not all of the herders were among the groups that conducted the attacks, it still surprised me to see so many of them in an area that had recently been the site of major tensions. I felt nervous driving into areas where so many had been killed and where tensions were still high. It is widely known that Fulani militants had conducted the attack, yet many Fulani herders still occupied the area and allowed their livestock to graze as if nothing happened.

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming tomorrow.

For interviews with Nathan Johnson, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org