Fulani Militants attempted to rape a 16-year-old Christian girl while she was walking with her mother. On the morning of 8 August, the girl was walking with her mother to their farmland in Nkiendonwro village, roughly 20 miles from Jos, the capital of Plateau state.
“They told us to stop”, said the girl’s mother, “Then the Fulani [militants] beat me and injured me… I was trying to stop them from raping my daughter.” As she spoke, the mother kept her arm raised, revealing a deep gash she suffered from the militants.
Earlier in 2017, Fulani militants had seized her land and burned down her house, and forced her and her family to move closer to the city for their safety. No longer having their farmland has caused the family of seven to fall into deep poverty, where they currently live and sleep in a one-room home.
The mother said God used her to protect her daughter from public disgrace and shame, which is often how victims of rape are viewed in their society.
“I have nothing to say but thank God,” said the mother, “Please tell Christian to pray for me and my daughter. Pray that we will return to our village one day because life is too expensive for us in the city.”