The Rigwe tribesmen in North-Central Nigeria recently organized a cultural festival in Jos City that drew communities from across the country.
The annual festival is an opportunity to celebrate cultural traditions while demanding justice for killings by Fulani militants.
The Rigwe tribesmen are majority Christians and have a history of missionary activities dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Christian missionaries, both from Europe and Nigeria played a significant role in spreading Christianity and supplied education and healthcare services in the region.
The first Christian missionaries to Rigwe Land were often associated with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), and other missionary organizations. They arrived during European colonialism in Africa.
The impact of missionaries is waning in the wake of attacks by radical Fulani tribesmen who have killed more than the Islamic terror group Boko Haram and Islamic Provence of West Africa (Islamic State West African Province)).
The Fulani militants attack mostly at night with guns and machetes and shouting Allah Akbar [Allah is Great] before wreaking havoc.
An International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer in Nigeria recorded 2,469 Christians killed by the Fulani militants since 2016, and their houses and churches were burnt. The militants destroyed the farms of the Christians so they could graze their cattle. Forty-six communities were attacked within seven years, and some faced multiple attacks, by the Fulani militants, displacing more than 20,000 Christians without means of a livelihood.
Thousands of the Rigwe gathered to dance in the hot sun to celebrate the cultural festival amid heavy security.
Rev. Ronku Aka, the paramount ruler of the Rigwe and retired clergy of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), demanded a quick response by the government to rebuild burnt homes and construct roads.
Ezekiel Bini, president of the Rigwe Youths, said the Nigerian government continues to remain silent without investigating or arresting terrorists who want to deliberately occupy Rigwe Land for grazing and set up an Islamic caliphate in Plateau State.
“Pray for us,” said Bini. “We are praying for Christians in Israel and Palestinian.”
Bini said unlike the terrorists, they don’t have guns to defend themselves. And it’s imperative that Nigeria be named as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the U.S. Department of State.