Nigeria bishop convenes meeting to address violence

 

Community leaders in Karim Lamido, Nigeria, gather to discuss peace and reconciliation efforts following episodes of violence in the area. United Methodist Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, who organized the meeting, called on those attending to pray for peace. Photo by Ramson Danjuma, UM News.

Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, leader of The United Methodist Church in Nigeria, organized a peace and reconciliation meeting on Aug. 17 following incidents of violence in the Karim Lamido area of Taraba state. The meeting was prompted by the Aug. 2 murder of a farmer in Munga Dosso, followed by the killings of several Fulani herdsmen, which authorities are investigating as possible retaliatory attacks.

The meeting was held at the palace of Abubakar Haruna Kirim, chief of the Wurkum traditional council, who encouraged those attending to be peacemakers. Representatives of the farmers and herdsmen, as well as the police, also spoke. Yohanna urged all involved to be patient and forgive one another, and he concluded by asking those in attendance to pray for peace.

— Ramson Danjuma, North East Nigeria Conference