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.
UK optician kidnapped and killed in Niger Delta, three other medical aid workers rescued
A British optician, kidnapped with a missionary couple and another optician while working in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, has died. Ian Squire founded a Christian charity, Mission for Vision, in 2003 to “improve the lives of those living in the poorest regions in the developing world”. Once a year he […]
Nigeria: cattle-grazing ban seeks to end Fulani violence
A law imposing a ban on cattle grazing has come into force today (2 November) in Nigeria’s central state of Benue. The ban follows years of deadly clashes between nomadic Fulani herdsman and local farmers in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. According to the BBC, the new law requires everyone to keep […]
Nigeria’s Christians condemn killings in Plateau, urge government to intervene
Worried by the recent incessant killings in Plateau state, north-central Nigeria, the Christians in the north under the aegis of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have urged the government to intervene. The Chairman of the Northern CAN, Rev. Yakubu Pam, expressed concern that people who had lived together peacefully […]
Behind Nigeria persecution ‘lies prejudice, weak leadership, corruption, historic grievance’
Support for the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram is a reaction to Western-backed corruption, colonial-era intervention and weak Nigerian leadership, a Catholic archbishop has said. Archbishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto in north-western Nigeria told World Watch Monitor that sympathy for the extremist group in northern Nigeria’s majority-Muslim states was fuelled […]
Nigeria: religious leaders unite in ‘Appeal of Peace’ after violence in Jos
Nigeria’s Christian and Muslim leaders have called for peace following a recent surge of violence in the central state of Plateau. On 14 September, three people lost their lives after an eruption of inter-religious violence in the city of Jos, which followed the massacre of about 20 Christians by Fulani […]
Nigerian government has failed to counteract violence of Fulani herdsmen – ICG report
In Nigeria, it isn’t only the northeast regions, stronghold of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, that have witnessed severe violence. The Middle Belt of the country, which straddles the divide between the largely Muslim north and the majority-Christian south, is also the scene of ever-continuing violence between settled farmers, […]
Nigeria: calm returns to Jos after eruption of violence that threatened the nation
A sense of normality has returned to the city of Jos, in Nigeria’s central Plateau State, after an eruption of inter-religious violence claimed at least three lives on 14 September. One of them was Jerry Binkur, a final-year student at the University of Jos, who was a member of the […]
Award for man who brokered release of Chibok girls
A 58-year-old Nigerian lawyer who brokered the release of 82 Chibok girls taken hostage by Boko Haram has been named as the 2017 winner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award. Zannah Mustapha won the prestigious honour, which recognises extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of […]
Freed Chibok girls finally head to university and home
Some of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014 will start at the American University in Yola, Adamawa state this month, the Nigerian government says. Of the 276 girls abducted three years ago, 106 have been either found or freed so far. Eighty-two girls were released in […]
Nigerian government ‘complicit’ in ‘stealth jihad’, say Christian leaders
A group representing senior Christians in Nigeria has accused the government of trying to Islamise the country. In a statement on 6 September, ‘Jihad in Nigeria: burying the head in sand’, the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) said jihad threatened the unity of the country. NCEF is composed of a number […]