Augustine Avertse
On the night of January 20th, 2020, a group of gunmen began firing indiscriminately into the air at 10 PM in Ebebe, Nigeria. As the townspeople scattered and hid for safety, the gunmen pulled Augustine Avertse, leader of the local Catholic community and missionary group at the nearby Saint Augustine's Catholic Church out and executed him. As his father (Akaa'am Avertse) was attempting to escape into a nearby bush, gunmen killed him with rifles as well. Sometime during the attack another Catholic by the name of Uwongul John Akodi and another unidentified man who was visiting the community were killed as well by the gunmen.
One survivor by the name of Adam (who did not wish to release his last name to the press) spoke from his hospital bed in Obi confirmed that the attack had been carried out by the local Fulani militia group and no money was stolen from the church. He also informed police that the Catholic group had lived in peace with the locals in the area and that there had been no recent misunderstandings between the two groups.
At around the same time as the attack, news broke that Boko Haram had executed Lawan Andimi, a leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria who had been kidnapped by the terrorist group earlier in the month.
Archbishop Ndagoso told press:
"People can no longer sleep with two eyes closed, yet our leaders have the courage to say that there is security in the Country.. I think people now seem to have given up on the security situation because there is nothing they can do, they just resigned to fate."
