The Nigerian army has had some success subduing Islamist group Boko Haram, but Christians are still being killed in Nigeria. Many of the killings are carried out by nomadic Hausa-Fulani herdsmen, a largely Muslim ethnic group that frequently targets the more settled Christian farming communities of central Nigeria. Meanwhile, 12 of Nigeria’s northern states employ Sharia (Islamic law), and Christians in these states face discrimination and restrictions in accessing community resources, such as clean water, health clinics, and higher education.
ICC Prosecutor visits Nigeria to discuss war crimes and crimes against humanity with government
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has made his first visit to Nigeria to discuss the next steps to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes there, for which there is enough evidence for them to come under the ICC’s jurisdiction. Ten years of ‘preliminary examinations’ (2010-20) […]
Boko Haram ‘flies flag 2 hours from Abuja’ warned Governor, as Nigerian captive teen turns 18
Today (14 May), Leah Sharibu is 18 years old; it’s her fourth birthday as the captive of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Nigerian Leah is the girl who defied one of the most globally well-known terrorist groups, a splinter group of Boko Haram. The then-14 year old was among […]
‘Bring back our 112 Chibok girls – now and alive!’ Demands for closure and disclosure 7 years on
Pictures of 82 girls freed in 2017; 112 are still un-accounted for ‘I’m Chibok girl Dad. Bring Back Our Girls Now’ read the white letters on the man’s red T-shirt. The same morning, 15 April seven years ago, he woke to hear his daughter had been abducted from her […]
Boko Haram has killed more than Islamic State in Iraq and Syria combined
Nigerian Wanhena Sheku was working alone on her farm when a group she identified as Fulani herdsmen attacked her in mid-October, 2019. “They told me to place my left arm on a wooden log before they hacked my hand off. Then they took my severed hand and ran away. I […]
“Incessant killing more dangerous than Coronavirus”: report on Nigeria to UK Parliament
“The incessant killing is more dangerous than Coronavirus” …The words of a community leader in central Nigeria – after coronavirus had reached his country – after an April attack in which nine people died, including a pregnant woman and her three year old. His reaction is one of several testimonies […]
Nigeria’s Kano State Governor converts Christian under-age girl to Islam
A video showing the Governor of Kano, a state in the far north of Nigeria, leading an under-age Christian girl through the act of becoming a Muslim inside his State Government House has sparked outrage on Nigerian social media. World Watch Monitor has independently confirmed the video is genuine and […]
Nigerian girl, 17, escapes month in locked room after abduction and forcible conversion to Islam
Sadiya Amos, aged 17, went missing from north central Kaduna in northern Nigeria on the night of 5th January. On 7th January, some men came to force her father Amos Chindo to attend a Sharia court in Anchau (in Kubau) without telling him what offence he had committed or even […]
Nigeria: ‘Government is Boko Haram but without bomb’, says church leader
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, is visiting the United Kingdom this week to discuss trade and investment amid increased criticism from church leaders back home who say the government is effectively enabling attacks on Christians in the country. “They [the government] are using the levers of power to secure the supremacy […]
Nigeria: Violence continues but government in denial, church leaders say
A pregnant woman and a child were among four people killed in attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Plateau State last week. The attackers targeted the villages of Ancha and Tafigana in the Bassa Local Government area, as reported by news site Nasoweseeamonline. Margaret Wakili, 27, from Ancha – […]
5 years on, 112 Chibok girls missing – but they are just ‘tip of the iceberg’
Five years ago, April 14th, 2014, about 230 girls from Chibok Girls’ Secondary School in NE Nigeria were rounded up at night by men in army dress and driven off on trucks into the darkness. In the immediate aftermath, 47 of them escaped; some jumped off the trucks, others managed […]