‘End genocide against us’ – Middle Belt Christian youths tells FG
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By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Christian youth leaders from Universal Reformed Christian Church (NKST), Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and Christian Association of Nigeria Youth Wing (YOWICAN), Tafawa Balewa (Bauchi), Kaduna and Plateau States have raised fresh concerns over what they described as coordinated attacks aimed at annihilating indigenous Christian communities in the Middle Belt.
Speaking on Friday at a joint press conference held in Jos, Reverend Jethro Moor, on behalf of the youths, declared that the killings and forceful occupation of ancestral lands could no longer be ignored, insisting that silence and complicity from relevant authorities must end.
The leaders said the spate of attacks has gone beyond mere clashes, and faulted the common narrative that the violence is a result of farmers-herders clashes, communal disputes, or competition over scarce resources.
According to the youths who justified the need to speak out on a united front, bullets, machetes, swords, guns, and other weapons do not recognize denominational boundaries, and Catholic, Anglican, ECWA, NKST, COCIN, and other Christian communities are suffering the same fate.
Moor stressed that the attacks are systematic, religiously motivated, and designed to depopulate and dispossess indigenous Christians of their lands.
“These are not random clashes. We have carefully observed the coordinated and systematic way these attacks are carried out. The chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ during such attacks are clear indicators that what is happening is persecution.” Reverend Moor declared.
The group lamented that the violence has manifested in killings, kidnappings for ransom, rape, abductions, and even forced conversions of minors.
Beyond human casualties, they highlighted the destruction of homes, farms, and means of livelihood, leaving thousands displaced and impoverished.
They also decried systemic marginalization, citing the refusal of the Bauchi State Government to implement the already gazetted Zaar Chiefdom and the imposition of Muslim leaders over predominantly Christian communities. Such moves, they said, deepen mistrust and exacerbate tensions.
To address the crisis, the youths tabled several demands and called for a rejection of the “false narrative” of herders-farmers clashes and for the governments to recognize the attacks as deliberate ethnic cleansing.
They demanded the immediate return of displaced persons to their ancestral lands, government issuance of certificates of occupancy to all displaced persons over their ancestral lands to recognize their genuine titles, and protection of farmers’ rights to cultivate without harassment.
The group further urged the government to disarm religious extremists, arrest and prosecute perpetrators, and ensure that security agencies act impartially in protecting lives and property.
They also demanded speedy trials for indigenous Christian youths in detention and a review of the security architecture to strengthen community policing.
“Meeting these demands will restore the faith of our people in the Nigerian state, millions of displaced persons currently living as IDPs must not be abandoned,” they stressed.
The Christian youths called on the governments at all levels not to politicize the situation, emphasizing that true peace in the Middle Belt can only be built on justice, fairness, and respect for the rights of indigenous communities.
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