No elected officials attended the mass burial, fueling anger over government inaction as communities mourn victims of Fulani militia violence.
By Luka Binniyat
(Kaduna) – A large mourning crowd attended the burial Mass of nine Christians murdered on the night of June 16, 2026, at Unguwan Magaji, Kamuru Ward, Kauru County, in Southern Kaduna, by armed men identified as Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), TruthNigeria has learned.
During the solemn ceremony, speakers took turns to lament what they described as the government’s total neglect of the security of the people, the impunity of FEM, and the unwillingness of the state to bring perpetrators to justice, sources at the burial ceremony informed TruthNigeria on Saturday.
Burial Event Neglected by State Officials
Neither the Kaduna state government nor the Kauru Local Government Council sent official spokesmen to express condolences to the mourning Catholic families. Neither did the Senator nor the House of Representative member representing Unguwan Magaji attend the burial ceremony. Even the member representing Unguwan Magaji at the Kaduna State House of Assembly was absent and didn’t send a proxy to represent him.
Unprecedented Crowd Of Mourners
The voters themselves came in their numbers.
“I was at the burial ceremony and I can tell you that the crowd that came to Unguwan Magaji today to pay farewell to our people killed by Fulani is unbelievable,” said Mr. Augustine Baye, Secretary of the Youth Wing of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), to TruthNigeria by phone from Unguwan Magaji on Saturday.
“All the nine people killed were Catholic members of Holy Family Catholic Church of Unguwan Magaji, so the Catholic Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, Bishop Julius Kondi, was represented by Father Peter Boma, Dean, Damakasuwa Deanery,” he said.
“The message of the Bishop was full of fury against the government for doing nothing to protect Unguwan Magaji and environs since 2016.
Government Complicit Through Negligence
“The Bishop said that he was tired of coming for mass burial of his members and other Christians in Kauru Local Government, especially in Chawai Chiefdom where Unguwan Magaji is located,” said Baye, who is aspiring to represent Kauru County at the Kaduna State House of Assembly in the 2027 Nigerian general elections.
According to him, the Bishop said that it is the absence of accountability that was encouraging the perpetrators to carry on their crimes against the most helpless citizens with impunity and called on the state to protect citizens before they resort to arming themselves.
Another source at the sad event, Steven Bulus, a Catholic Catechist from Pyebabun Village, 16 km west of Unguwan Magaji, told TruthNigeria from Unguwan Magaji on Saturday that he was more impressed with the homily of the Parish Priest of Holy Family Catholic Church, Unguwan Magaji.
“He told the people not to sit down like chickens and get slaughtered like chickens.”
Defend Yourselves Or Christ Will Be Ashamed Of You
“He said that Jesus is unhappy that his church is being depleted by people who are more loyal to evil than to God,” he said.
“He told us that Jesus has already died for our salvation and as such, it is shameful to allow our blood to be spilled out of negligence of government and our indolence towards our collective survival,” he told our correspondent.
According to him, everyone who spoke heavily criticised the government for what he said was deliberately allowing the violence to continue.
““I have personally been to Unguwan Magaji twice with SOKAPU to take relief materials to them between 2019 and 2021,” said Hon. Jonathan Asake, former President of SOKAPU, to TruthNigeria on Saturday.
“These are victims of clear unprovoked attacks by those they once accommodated and their accomplices.
“I was actively speaking about their case in the media calling on the government to arrest some of the killers that survivors could identify and the places that they were living in Plateau State, but it was fruitless,” he said.
“Anyone that says that what Unguwan Magaji Christians are facing is a conflict either does not know the story, or he is just trying to make the government and attackers not to take sole responsibility for the genocide against the Irigwe there,” he said.
Fulani Chieftain Blamed the Victims for Making Threats
But the Fulani Ardo (leader) of Kauru County, Alhaji Sani Bello, who responded to inquiries Saturday through Whatsapp messages replied in Hausa language interpreted as thus:
“It was the Irigwe that started giving threats to the Fulani living with them in Unguwan Magaji, Kifit, Unguwan Rimi, Kipari and other villages around 2015, so they moved out,” he said.
“I am unhappy with what is going on there, but I don’t believe that it is Fulani that are doing that. The Irigwe also have enemies with other tribes. But each time that they are attacked they blame it on the Fulani,” he said.
The victims were buried in a mass grave amidst wailing and crying by relatives and loved ones, TruthNigeria was told.
TruthNigeria has reported that Unguwan Magaji has been attacked at least twice in the past.
Luka Binniyat writes for TruthNigeria from Kaduna.
