The bombs were found in the village of Shaforon in the north-eastern Adamawa state and community leaders have expressed concern that more may be buried within their villages.

Community leader and professor Wonotazakan Tagowa, said at a press conference: “It is important that steps are taken to conduct an aerial survey of these communities and identify where the remnants of the bombs are and safely evacuate and detonate them.

“Our communities are farming communities and they may step on these things and be killed by them.”

Another leader, Lawrence Jocthan, added: “The presence of rockets and explosives shows [the Nigerian Air Force] used excessive and unlawful force against our people.

“We are therefore showing Nigerians and the international community that just as Amnesty International reported, there [is] credible evidence that [the] raids on our villages had disastrous consequences and those raids were genocidal and constitute a crime against humanity.”

The leaders claimed the Nigerian Air Force was “complicit”in the the attacks in six villages – Lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Kodomti and Shaforon, as they fired rockets at villages where Fulani herdsmen were attacking Christians on 4th December 2017.

In a statement last week, the Christian communities accused the Nigerian Air Force of “clear human rights abuses” amounting to “genocide” and of helping the Fulani…

The “In Churches Too” report was made after 438 Christians from a range of churches completed the survey.

Reacting to the findings, Dr Kristin Aune of Coventry University, who led the research, said: “Domestic abuse happens in churches too.

“A quarter of the people we heard from told us they had, for example, been physically hurt by their partners, sexually assaulted, emotionally manipulated, or had money withheld from them.

“This includes twelve women who have experienced between ten and twenty abusive behaviours and six women who are currently  in relationships where they fear for their lives.”

People aged over 60 were less likely to say they had experienced domestic abuse than younger adults were, and women more likely to say they had experienced serious forms of abuse than men.

The report also found only two in seven churchgoers felt their church was adequately equipped to deal with a disclosure of abuse.

Bishop of Carlisle, Rt Rev James Newcome said churches have to do more to discourage domestic violence.

“Churches in Cumbria have been taking this very seriously for many years, which is why we wanted to take part in the research,” he said.

“Many churches have taken part in training, promote helplines and liaise with local support services and we have come a long way in understanding that this is a vital part of…

Safe Families for Children, which aims to prevent children from needlessly having to go into the care system, has been working in England since 2013.

Keith Danby, chief executive of the charity said in a statement: “The increase in children becoming ‘looked after’ is recognised as a growing crisis by many in the care sector. It’s generally agreed that some urgent action must be taken.

“We believe that volunteer support from the community can go a long way to stabilising family situations in times of acute stress or dysfunction. We’ve seen so many families benefit from having community support and respite when they are at their wits end.”

Government statistics reveal that as of March 2017, over 25 per cent of children in need were assessed as being in a family in acute stress or dysfunction.

The charity recruits and trains volunteers who support children and their parents/carers.

Rev Amanda Digman of The Churches of St John the Baptist, Carlton and Colwick said: “We decided to get involved with Safe Families because we live in an area where there are people with needs. It’s difficult to know how to access those who need the help and Safe Families helps us find them.
 
“Although I’m really busy, I think if we can all help and chip in a little bit we can work together to make society better. Just to help people to move forward and not be stuck. We’ve all been in a…