Boko Haram Burns Evangelist Alive in Adamawa as Attacks Hit Benue and Plateau * The Gateway Pundit * by Antonio Graceffo

Suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked Dzangola Kilba, a farming village in Gombi Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, at about 9 p.m. on Thursday, October 15. The attack continued until 5 a.m. the following morning. The attackers locked David Barnabas, an evangelist with the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN), inside his house and set it on fire, according to an eyewitness cited by TruthNigeria. Local residents posting on Facebook put the death toll at 30, but police and government officials have not confirmed that figure.

This was at least the third attack on Dzangola Kilba in recent months. On Sunday, September 6, suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed at least 12 people, injured two, burned a church, and looted three shops, Gombi LGA Chairman Mark Ishaya told The Sun. The newspaper described that raid as the second attack on the community within a couple of months. Reports of the September death toll varied: Adamawa State Assembly Speaker Bathliya Wesley put it at 11, while TruthNigeria later reported 13 people killed and homes burned.

The village is predominantly Christian. During the October raid, the attackers stole food, domestic animals, and cooking utensils and took them to a stronghold a few miles away. TruthNigeria had warned of attacks in the area on October 15, hours before the raid began.

More than 4,000 residents of Gunyaku, Tela-Bala, Sabon-Gari, and Nzangula have been displaced and are sleeping in Yola and Gombi town. Shehu Inuwa, who fled with six family members, said, “Fulani people grazed on my farm, I have nothing left to feed my displaced family.”

Inuwa said about 50 soldiers and forest guards had been deployed after the September killings but left at nightfall on Friday, October 9. “We watched their trucks go,” he said.

No statement on the October 15–16 attack could be found from the Adamawa State Police Command, the state government, or the military’s Operation Hadin Kai.

At about 11:20 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, insurgents on foot attacked Tela-Bala and Guyaku, also in Gombi LGA, Daily Trust reported. Rufa’i Umar Gombi, who represents Gombi Constituency, said he had received reports that four soldiers and one forest guard were killed, but noted that the figures had not been officially confirmed.

The attackers tried to advance on Gombi town early Sunday but were repelled by reinforced troops. At a checkpoint in Guyaku, they tried to seize a military armored personnel carrier. After failing to burn it, they fired at it at close range. Operation Hadin Kai did not comment, and Ishaya responded to a text message with one word: “Later.”

In Benue State, kidnappers abducted Rev. Fr. John Inalegwu Otache on Tuesday, October 13, along the Otobi Amejo–Ajegbe Road in Ohimini LGA. Otache, the parish priest of St. Margaret’s Parish, Ajegbe-Awume, in the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo, was returning home from Otukpo.

Benue State Police Command spokesperson Aondongu Peter confirmed the kidnapping and said police were making “frantic efforts to rescue the priest.” Otache is the second priest from St. Margaret’s Parish to be kidnapped.

At about 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, police and local vigilantes rescued Otache and three other people who had been abducted along the same route. All four were taken to a hospital. No ransom payment or arrests were reported.

In Plateau State, gunmen killed four vigilantes on duty in Shurum village, Dorowa Babuje District, Barkin Ladi LGA, at about 11:56 p.m. on October 16, Premium Times reported. “They were watching over our community when the gunmen struck and killed them,” said resident Bulus Bature.

Rwang Tengwong Gyang, national publicity secretary of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, confirmed the deaths and called on security agencies to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

The association also reported that two men in their mid-20s, Goodluck Bulus and Emmanuel Monday, were killed that day at a mining site in Burdinga, Gashish District, also in Barkin Ladi LGA, according to Sahara Reporters. It blamed both attacks on “Radical Islamic Fulani Militias.” Police could not be reached for comment.

The October 17 attack struck two communities already hit earlier this year. In February, attacks on Guyaku and Tela-Bala killed 29 people, and ISWAP claimed responsibility, according to TruthNigeria. Residents told Daily Trust that the communities lie close to the Sambisa Forest in neighboring Borno State. The U.S. State Department designated Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization on November 14, 2013, and ISIS-West Africa on February 28, 2018.

Barnabas served the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN), which its president, Rev. Daniel Mbaya, has described as the Nigerian church hardest hit by the insurgency. Speaking at EYN’s General Church Council in late March, Mbaya said, “Over 700,000 members are displaced, and about 25,000 are currently taking refuge in the Cameroon and Chad Republics,” TruthNigeria reported. Church leaders said about 300 of EYN’s 586 churches have been destroyed by fire.

Mbafe Manasseh, secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria’s Hong chapter, said, “Eight Christian communities have already been completely displaced,” adding, “Our communities that are being erased are 100 percent Christian.”