A Nigerian pastor whose case was recently highlighted by President Donald Trump has revealed that nine members of his family were murdered after Islamist Fulani militia fighters stormed his family compound searching for him, before later issuing death threats warning that he will be next. ;
Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, a regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Nigeria's violence-plagued Middle Belt, said militants attacked his family's compound in Plateau State on July 12, killing nine relatives, including a two-month-old baby, after reportedly demanding to know his whereabouts before opening fire. Days later, Dachomo said the same militia sent written threats promising to kill him.
"A few days ago, Fulani herdsmen sent a threatening letter to me and to members of my church," he announced in a statement. "They vowed to attack me and kill me soon, just as they killed nine of my relatives. Now they say I will be next. But I ask the world, what is my crime? Is my crime that I tell the stories of persecuted Christians in Nigeria, so the world will not forget them?"
Dachomo has become one of the most prominent voices documenting attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria, with President Trump recently sharing one of the pastor's posts showing him leading funerals for Christians killed in extremist violence. The U.S. State Department condemned the killings, telling Fox it had seen reports of the attack and describing it as part of "a shocking level of violence against Christians" in Nigeria's Middle Belt allegedly committed by Fulani ethnic militias.
Judd Saul, founder of the Christian nonprofit Equipping the Persecuted, said Dachomo was specifically targeted because of his advocacy. "The Islamist Fulani ethnic militia hate Pastor Ezekiel and targeted him because he is waking up Christians to the reality of what they are facing," Saul told Fox. A newly released six-year study by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa found Fulani militias were responsible for more than 79,000 terror-related deaths, averaging roughly 36 killings every day.
"We ask President Trump to stop the Fulani terrorists from killing our people in Nigeria's Middle Belt," Dachomo said in a statement to Fox. "These attacks against Christian communities have been going on for years and must be stopped. They may threaten my life, but they cannot silence the truth. They may kill the messenger, but they cannot kill the message." The State Department confirmed that U.S. officials had raised concerns about anti-Christian violence during recent meetings with Nigerian authorities.
