Muslim extremists with the alleged help of Nigerian army personnel killed 24 Christians this month in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, area sources said.

Plateau Gov. Jonah Jang called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian army because, he said, Muslims in the army have taken sides with Islamist assailants.

Christians from a local Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) congregation in this Plateau state town have been displaced after Muslim extremists set their church building and some homes on fire last month.

Attacks on Christians in the town go back to 2001, when the only Christian to ever become a council chairperson, identified only as Nimfel, was murdered following an outbreak of violence between Muslims and Christians in Plateau State, central Nigeria.

Pastors in southeast Nigeria claim illness and poverty are caused by witches who bring terrible misfortune to those around them. And those denounced as witches must be cleansed through deliverance or cast out.

As daylight breaks, and we travel out to the rural villages it becomes apparent the most vulnerable to this stigmatization of witchcraft are children.

Less than two weeks after a massive attack in Nigeria that killed 500 Christians, Muslim Fulani herdsmen today unleashed more horrific violence on two Christian villages in Plateau state, killing 13 persons, including a pregnant woman and children.

In the March 7 attack, the ethnic Berom victims also included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were burned. State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong confirmed that about 500 persons were killed in the attacks.

An uneasy calm prevailed in Plateau state, Nigeria today following the killing of hundreds of Christians early yesterday morning in three farming villages near Jos by ethnic Fulani Muslims, according to Compass Direct News.

The mostly ethnic Berom victims included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were also burned, according to Compass.

Over 40 people have been killed in the Nigerian city of Jos in the country’s Plateau State, after around 200 Muslim youths attacked Christians near a Catholic Church sparking retaliatory violence, Christian rights investigators said Monday, January 18.

According to one observer the apparent refusal by authorities to prosecute those responsible for previous attacks against Christians contributed to Sunday’s clashes.

An increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files.

Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

“It is an outrage what they are allowing to take place in the name of Christianity,” said Gary Foxcroft, head of nonprofit Stepping Stones Nigeria. [video]

“Those of us who are in the forefront of the prophetic call for a return to Biblical truth cannot close our eyes to the increasingly blatant disregard for the teaching of the Bible on family life,” wrote the archbishop. “The observation will destroy our witness if not firmly addressed. We cannot claim to be a Bible-believing church yet be selective in our obedience.”