Benue: Gunmen who killed priests, worshippers danced in their choir robes

Gunmen dancing in choir robes

Benue: Gunmen who killed priests, worshippers danced in their choir robes

A video has emerged showing gunmen in choir robes, singing in Hausa language and dancing and enjoying it.

Accompanying explanation on the social media is that the gunmen were the herdsmen who killed two catholic priests and 17 parishioners in Benue state on April 24th dancing and jubilating wearing the church’s choir robes.

A Nigerian, Farooq Kperogi, who shared the video online, wrote;

”This is a video of Fulfulde- and Hausa-speaking men, presumably cattle herders, who recently murdered 19 Benue people in their church, took over their choir instruments and church garments, and recorded themselves dancing derisorily over their murderous exploit. In this age of pervasive digital manipulation, I usually withhold credulity and judgment over videographic and photographic evidence, but this video seems to me credible. What I can’t ascertain is if the gun-toting, deliriously gyrating, Fulfulde- and Hausa-speaking men in this video are the murderers of the Catholic priests and 17 parishioners in the Mbalom community of Benue on April 24, 2018. If they are (and my hunch tells me they are) the impunity is at once conscienceless and incendiary. (Can any Fulfulde-speaking person help translate what people in the video are saying? MD Aminu, can you help?) We certainly can’t continue like this. No nation can survive this level of barbarous, unchecked sanguinary fury. The federal government MUST use this video to hunt down the murderous thugs and bring them to justice forthwith. That’s the only way to avert an endless cycle of reprisal and retaliation.”

Meanwhile, reactions have trailed the video online. A Nigerian wrote: “What do we need One Billion dollar weaponry for? Who is deceiving who? Somebody knows these people and knows where they are! Somebody released the videos! A hundred billion dollar fighters wont make any difference as long as the perpetrators are allowed by those who are meant to be protecting society. We are really in dire times. Who is trying to draw the nation into war? Those who are governing should know”.