Gwoza, in northeastern Nigeria, is reeling after a series of attacks that left dozens dead and hundreds displaced.
The attacks carried out by Islamist group Boko Haram follow the deployment of U.S. troops to the area. Survivors say promised government help has not materialized.
John Thuma, an evangelist in the community, told Christian Solidarity International (CSI) that his wife barely escaped the massacre.
Many were slaughtered like animals.
“Dozens of people were killed, and their bodies were still lying in the streets,” says Thuma. “Many were slaughtered like animals and their heads severed from their bodies. Relatives cannot return to the village to bury their dead.”
Boko Haram released a propaganda video showing the aftermath of the attacks in Ngoshe. In the video, a voice can be heard saying, “Infidels! Allah curse you,” while displaying the severed head of a man, reportedly a Christian.
"We have slaughtered them, abducted their women and children, and enslaved them."
In another online video, the terrorist group boasted: “People in this town are saying that we cannot conquer Ngoshe. With the help of Allah, we have already conquered the town, and by the grace of Allah we are going to stay in Ngoshe and change its name to a caliphate. We have slaughtered them, abducted their women and children, and enslaved them. They are our legal property to use as ordained by Allah.”
More than 300 people may have been abducted.
Survivors who spoke to CSI said some of the injured had to walk many miles to reach health facilities in Pulka, the nearest village. Hundreds of women and children sought refuge in the village. But both authorities and survivors reported that hundreds remained unaccounted for, with estimates suggesting that more than 300 people may have been abducted.
The attack took place despite the presence of U.S. troops in the area. They were deployed to northeastern Nigeria after President Donald Trump’s intervention over the killings of Christians in central and northeastern Nigeria by radical Islamist terrorist groups seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate.
In early February, reports indicated that three U.S. aircraft carrying troops and weapons arrived in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, bringing the first group of roughly 100 U.S. personnel.
However, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, General Samaila Uba, stated that “these personnel do not serve in a combat capacity and will not assume a direct operational role.”
Other reports indicated that the U.S. troops were deployed “to train the West African nation’s armed forces and assist with intelligence in their battle against growing security threats from Islamist militants and other armed groups.”
U.S. intervention appears to have had little immediate impact.
For now, the U.S. intervention appears to have had little immediate impact in preventing the massacres of Christians and moderate Muslims in central and northeastern Nigeria, regions where Christians suffer some of the highest levels of persecution in the world.
Originally published by CSI (Christian Solidarity International). Republished with permission.
Founded over 40 years ago, CSI (Christian Solidarity International) is an international Christian human rights organization, campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity, and assisting victims of religious persecution, victimized children and victims of catastrophe. CSI delivers emergency food assistance, medical treatment, and other lifesaving aid to victims of religious persecution and natural disasters in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, and other hotspots around the globe. CSI is currently the only organization working to liberate Christians and other South Sudanese forced into slavery by government-backed forces during the Sudanese civil war. For more information visit https://csi-usa.org.
