A Nigerian imam who gained international recognition for saving hundreds of lives from a mainly Christian community during an outbreak of violence has died at the age of 90.
Abubakar Abdullahi had been suffering from a heart condition and was being treated in hospital, where he died on Thursday night, his son confirmed to BBC Hausa.
In 2018, the imam saw many desperate, frightened families running into his village in Plateau state, central Nigeria, and decided to risk his life to save theirs. In all, he sheltered 262 people in his home and mosque.
In recognition of his actions, Abdullahi was awarded one of the highest national honours and an award for religious freedom by the US State Department.
“God created mankind differently, but he wants us to live together in peace and harmony, and not harm each other,” Abdullahi was quoted as saying at the time.
The people he saved had come from a neighbouring village. They were fleeing about 300 well-armed men – suspected cattle herders, who are mostly Muslim – who started shooting sporadically and burning down their homes, the BBC reported in 2018.
Some of those who managed to escape ran towards the mainly Muslim neighbourhood nearby, where the imam lived.
The cleric immediately came to their aid.
“I first took the women to my personal house to hide them. Then I took the men to the mosque,” Abdullahi told BBC Pidgin.
When the attackers heard that the villagers had fled towards the mosque, they demanded that the imam bring out those he was hiding.
But he refused.
Along with some others in the Muslim community, he began to cry and wail, asking them to leave.
And to their amazement, the herders did leave – but then set two nearby churches on fire.
The attack was part of a wave of violence, which continues until today, in Nigeria’s central region, where farming communities and nomadic cattle herders often clash – usually over access to land and grazing rights.
The herders largely come from the mainly Muslim ethnic Fulani community, while the farmers are mostly Christians from the Berom ethnic group.
US President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to protect Christians – a charge denied by Nigerian officials, who say that members of all religious groups are affected by the violence in different parts of the country.
Plateau state governor Caleb Mutfwang described the death of the imam as a “monumental loss” to the community.
His “life was distinguished by an unwavering commitment to peace, unity, and the protection of the vulnerable, particularly women and children”, he said in a condolence message.
In 2022, Abdullahi was given a national honour by then-President Muhammadu Buhari, who commended his bravery.
Three years earlier, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented the International Religious Freedom Award to the imam.
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