The curfew covers Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu local government areas. It runs from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. "until further notice." Security forces were ordered to enforce it, and the state banned motorcycles throughout the affected areas. Residents were told to arrange their farming, trading and travel around the restricted hours.
The order followed the killing of Pastor Samuel Nandi, a native of Borno State. Gunmen shot him dead on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 20, as he traveled to a church service in Maraban Kantoma, Barkin Ladi. His son was shot as well and is being treated. A traditional ruler in nearby Dorowa Babuje gave those details.
A documenter with the International Committee on Nigeria, David Nanpet, counted 27 Christians killed between Sept. 13 and Sept. 20 across Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Mangu, Riyom and Jos South. Nine died at Dungus Junction in Jos South when gunmen attacked passengers stepping out of a commercial vehicle. Five were killed in Gana-Ropp on Sept. 19. Two died in Ta-Hoss village in Riyom, and two more in Vodni village in Mangu. At a farmers' market in Mangu, three people were killed and seven wounded, one of them a seven-month-old baby.
Maj. Gen. Maxwell Dangana, commander of Operation Endurance Peace, toured affected communities on Sunday and promised stronger security. Nanpet said gunfire kept sounding around Maraban Kantoma, Rapwomol and Shurum after the pastor was killed. He also said residents of Darwat saw a drone circling their community at night, with an armored vehicle parked nearby.
What a curfew cannot reach
A curfew can keep a man off a road after dark. It cannot give a widow her husband back, or a father his boy. It cannot settle the question that sits in every Plateau farmhouse tonight: will the people who did this ever answer for it?
That question belongs to government, and government has a plain duty. The apostle Paul wrote that the ruler "beareth not the sword in vain." Authority is given by God to protect the innocent and punish the wicked. When a governor sets a curfew and soldiers walk the roads, he is doing a part of that work, and he deserves our honor for the office he holds. But the sword must actually fall on the guilty, or the people stop believing it is there. Nigerian believers have buried their dead for years now, and too few of those killings have ended in a courtroom.
Think of Pastor Nandi. He was not on a battlefield. He was on a road to church, with his son beside him, going to open the Word and sing. Nobody can say that was a wasted Sunday. A man who dies on the way to worship has simply arrived early.
My friend, you may sit far from Plateau State, in a warm house with the doors unlocked. Do not turn the page. These are our brothers and sisters in the household of faith, and when one member suffers, the Bible says all the members suffer with it. Pray for them. Give where you can. Speak up when your own leaders can be moved to press for justice abroad.
Above all, remember where the believer's refuge is. It was never in a curfew order or a checkpoint, however needed those are. The psalmist knew trouble, and he wrote this:
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)
A very present help. Not a distant one. The God who stood with Stephen while stones flew stands with the farmer in Mangu and the mother in Riyom. He numbers every one of them. Not one of the 27 is lost to Him, and Jesus promised that those who die trusting Him will live again.
There is a word here for the man who has not yet made his peace with God, too. Death came to Plateau State this week without an appointment, and it comes to every house. The Lord Jesus said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." The soul is what matters. Settle that question with Christ while you still have breath, and no gunman, no illness and no grave can take from you what He has secured.
The curfew will be lifted one day. The justice of God will not be.