A Christian woman in Nigeria was reportedly murdered over the weekend while cleaning her church — an act of violence that is making international headlines.
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Lyop Dalyop was purportedly sweeping and cleaning Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) on Aug. 27 in the Plateau state, when she was shot and killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen, members of a predominately Muslim group known to target Christians.
Dalyop was ambushed inside the church by the armed men, according to Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, an attorney who directs the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria.
“The incident occurred at about 8:05 p.m., shortly after she had gone to sweep the COCIN Church, Bangai, in preparation for Sunday morning worship service,” Mwantiri told Morning Star News. “The armed Fulani men shot her in the head.”
According to Open Doors USA, the Hausa-Fulani Muslim Herdsman comprises about 38 million people who speak various languages and are nomadic. Members of the group have varying degrees of adherence to Islam. Find out more about the Fulani:
Tragically, stories like this are nothing new in Nigeria, as persecution and extremism have raged in various parts of the country. As CBN’s Faithwire reported in July, a Nigerian pastor and his sons were attacked in the Adamawa state, an area known for Islamic extremism.
The Rev. Daniel Umaru was shot July 5, with his two sons — Kefrey Daniel, 19, and Fanye Daniel, 23 — reportedly dying during the horrific attack.
The assailants allegedly stormed the family’s home at 2 a.m. Umaru’s daughter, Ijagla, 13, was also kidnapped during the incursion and was released three days later after a ransom was paid, Morning Star News reported.
The preacher, who survived the ordeal after being left for dead, was hospitalized.
In a separate incident July 15, two Catholic priests were abducted, and one of those men was tragically murdered. Fathers John Mark Cheitnum and Denatus Cleopas were reportedly kidnapped from Christ the King Catholic Church by unknown assailants, according to International Christian Concern. While Cleopas escaped his captors, Mark was killed.
Violence in Nigeria broke through the international news cycle in May, when Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a 25-year-old Christian college student, was reportedly stoned to death by a Muslim mob.
Yakubu, a Shehu Shagari College of Education student in Sokoto, Nigeria, was brutally murdered May 12, and the violent attack was purportedly filmed and shared on social media.
“We have videos, we have photos which I’ve seen, unfortunately,” Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International (CSI), told CBN’s Faithwire earlier this year.
She was killed over comments purportedly made on WhatsApp, a messaging app.
“She was in a WhatsApp group that was dedicated to studies at her school,” Veldkamp explained. “Someone asked her in this group how she got such a good score on a test, and she replied, ‘Jesus.’”
This reportedly angered Muslims in the group, who negatively reacted. Yakubu then purportedly left a voice message saying the Holy Spirit would protect her and that the WhatsApp group’s purpose was for schooling, not “religious nonsense,” as Veldkamp explained. She was subsequently murdered.
Additionally, an attack on a church on Pentecost Sunday in Nigeria in early June killed at least 50 people, with militants using guns and bombs.
Despite Christianity being vibrant in many parts of the country, Nigeria’s northern region has experienced an uptick in extremist attacks against believers.
As Faithwire previously reported, Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List ranks Nigeria the seventh most dangerous place in the world to live as a Christian.
Pray for the community and loved ones mourning Dalyop’s death, and for peace more broadly in Nigeria.
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