Page 13 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Apr-Jun 2023 - 122

Radical Islamic Fulani herdsmen militia groups, associated with Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa and al-Qaida, also started their campaign against Christians in the predominantly central region of Nigeria, destroying more than 150 villages and slaughtering thousands of Christians, surpassing even Boko Haram in the extent of their killing.
for economic resources, and that the slow extermination has nothing to do with religious persecution. Despite
the overwhelming facts of terrorism,
the killing of women and children and wiping out of villages, the politically correct narratives insist ‘it’s more complicated than that’, ‘Muslims too have been targeted and killed’, ‘there are not enough facts and documentation to prove that only Christians are targeted’ and ‘the killings do not yet meet the parameters of genocide’.
alone, Muslim extremists slaughtered about 60 Christians, raided churches, and kidnapped women and children. During one of these raids on a church terrorists burned the priest alive
All over the north and central regions many churches continue to be targeted and destroyed, thousands of women and girls have been raped and hundreds now live with life-changing injuries and disabilities. The number of orphans, widows and vulnerable persons in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps runs into thousands. Many churches and Christian communities have been forced to
There does not seem to be a clear-cut path to unity in the country, and the government institutions that should have tackled the terrorism and provided justice and security have fallen far below expectations. The situation shows no signs of subsiding, especially in the north east, the north west and
and shot and wounded his assistant priest. With the growing number of radical Islamic militia and terrorist groups, this can only mean that the persecution of Christians is likely to continue for a long time until there is a clear acknowledgment of this unfolding tragedy and the political will to stop it.
pay millions of pounds in ransom to radical Islamist militia, in desperate attempts to secure the freedom of their loved ones who had been kidnapped
in the central regions. In January 2023
One thing, however, is certain:
We will not deny the Lord or bring disgrace to those first missionaries who gave their all in order to
bring Christianity to these
shores. We have a gospel
worth living for, and a gospel worth dying for!
MARK LIPDO
rules, has recorded incidences
of violence ranging from Islamic rioting to Boko Haram terrorism, and then fully operational militant Fulani herdsmen
who have continued to ravage communities, killing, maiming, kidnapping and displacing thousands while occupying some communities. This terrorist activity has encouraged a high level of crime with impunity
and has given room for political exploitations that are now affecting the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria.
Stefanos has been working to intervene in the agony, pain and suffering, providing physical care, trauma care and advocating over the disruption that this violence has caused millions of people.
The bias, intolerance, marginalisation and sectional scheming have further deepened the fault lines. This increases the concern over the mass abductions of school students, mass displacement of people, kidnapping for ransom, destruction of farms and a list of emerging Fulani settlements on ethnic farmlands. So far,
there are no signs of these
ills abating any time soon.
The current high level
of insecurity in Nigeria began as a persecution of Christians in the northern
part of the country: an extremist Islamic ideology instigated a jihad (religious war) targeting Christians in the country.
This soon turned ethnic, with high levels of ethnic-cleansing activities and provided grounds for lethal Islamic terrorism.
The jihad unleashed violence
on individuals, villages and communities, displacing millions of Nigerians from their homes and now not even moderate Muslims are spared. However, the Government takes advantage of it to play its political games.
Over the past two decades, Stefanos Foundation, under four successive federal government
– men, women and children, including pastors. This subjugates Christians and strategically impoverishes the communities. At least two million children have been deprived of any good education due to the ongoing attacks. The situation is such that today Nigeria is said to be one of the most dangerous countries in which to be a Christian.
It is estimated that since 2009
some 43,000 Christians have been murdered, and 18,500 abducted (never to be seen again and assumed to be dead). During the same time-frame, approximately 17,500 churches and 2,000 Christian schools were torched and destroyed. Such consistent and persistent persecution makes it surprising that in 2021, the US State Department removed Nigeria from
its list of Countries of Particular Concern (nations that either engage
in, or tolerate, violations of religious freedom)!
The Nigerian Government has been accused of bias in dealing with Christian persecution. It denies, deflects and defends its inability to stop the killings and threatens or arrests its critics. The Government
has also found refuge in the globally acceptable narrative that the killings are caused by climate change, as Muslim herders fight Christian farmers
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