This morning we received a request for prayer for the Mission Base and the surrounding communities in Plateau State due to an attack last night and specific threats to villages in the area. I will post here if there are any additional updates throughout the coming hours and days. Make sure you refresh your page if you visit again. Last year over a thousand were killed an 30,000 displaced due to attacks in these same areas. We pray that there is no repeat of that horror. The exact message received this morning from Naomi Famonure is below. Naomi is the founder of Bege for Gobe, one of the organizations we support in Central Nigeria. She is currently at the Mission Base in Plateau State.
"This is an SOS for prayers. We have received threats of attacks on many communities within Plateau including Bokkos and Mangu. One community not too far from us was attacked last night. The government has put a partial restriction to movements at the moment. We pray for safety even as people are arriving for our prayer camp starting tomorrow 26th."
UPDATES
Dec 25, 7:45 am - No additional information since the above post received at 5:00 am. We believe all are safe at this time. They are 10 hours ahead of us in time zone. I will continue to update on this post as we have information (you will not get additional texts or emails). Be aware that communication is difficult in these areas.
Dec 25, 7:15 pm - We know the base was secure until at least 8:30 am today, just as it was getting dark in Nigeria. We hope to get additional information once the sun comes up again there.
Dec 26, 7:30 am - Reports this morning suggest that state security forces were deployed early, in anticipation of a repetition of last year. This sort of preemptive move is sadly unusual, but seems to have been effective so far. Other than the limited attack already reported, there have not yet been any reports of large scale attacks. Continued prayers are appreciated. Last year, although the initial attacks were devestating, smaller attacks occurred for weeks, like an earthquake and it's aftershocks. I will continue to post here until it seems clear the situation is in hand.
Dec 30, 7:30 am - No further violence in the immediate area has been reported. We are grateful to God that those on the Mission Base remained safe. They even held a several day long prayer conference. But I have included some additional documentation: The map is from a Nigerian source, TruthNigeria, from June this year. It gives you a sense of the region of concern. The named regions are counties. The Mission Base is located in Barkin Ladi county. The focus of attacks last year were Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Manggu. According to this report from MorningStar News, a US based monitor of the persecuted church, the attack we heard about occurred in Riyom County and left 15 dead including a 1-year old baby. This will be the last update on this particular matter as these attacks are unfortunately continual.
Source: TruthNigeria - June, 2024
Photos & Video: ©Azigbo Dafe Samuel, ©AMEN, or ©Sharing the Mission - all used by permission. More info.