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.
Deadly conflict tearing Nigeria apart (and it’s not Boko Haram)
In Nigeria, it’s not only the northeast regions, stronghold of the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram, that have been the scene of severe violence. The Middle Belt of the country is also the scene of ever-continuing attacks on Christian farmers by mainly Muslim Hausa-Fulani herdsmen, as a report from IRIN […]
Chibok escapee ‘not one of 276’, exactly a year after first girl found. 113 still missing
A lone schoolgirl abducted from Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has managed to escape, and has been found by Nigeria’s government troops earlier this week, reports the BBC. However, although from the same school as the 276 kidnapped in one night April 14, 2014, she was […]
75% of north-east Nigeria’s water and sanitation infrastructure destroyed
Gloria Shehu is one of the people in north-east Nigeria set to benefit from the UN’s humanitarian fund targeting the devastation from the conflict with Boko Haram. Yesterday (17 May) the agency stepped up a call for more money, reminding that “the number of people close to sliding from emergency […]
Girl, 14, sent on suicide mission for refusing to marry Boko Haram fighters
A 14-year-old girl arrested on suspicion of being on a suicide mission in northern Nigeria says she was chosen because she refused to marry Boko Haram fighters. One of three suspects arrested at a military facility, the girl said that a week after she had refused her third proposal she […]
UPDATE: New video by Boko Haram claims some Chibok schoolgirls chose not to be rescued
Boko Haram released a video on Friday (12 May) claiming to show Chibok schoolgirls who refused to be rescued as part of last week’s swap deal that saw 82 girls freed by the Nigerian government. In the three-minute video, a girl dressed in a veil and holding a gun says […]
Chibok parents relieved: ‘Grace is out!’
The 82 Chibok girls who were released on 6 May by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, have not returned to their families yet, but are held in a centre in the capital Abuja for screening and rehabilitation. However, Peter Pogu, father of one of the girls, was overjoyed […]
Nigerian officials stole food meant for starving victims of Boko Haram
Despite the good news of 82 freed ‘Chibok girls’, 14 million are in need of aid in north-east Nigeria, the centre of the Boko Haram insurgency. Of the 14 million, more than half are “severely food insecure”. The UN describes the unfolding disaster in the region as the “greatest crisis on […]
Nigeria: Bishop accuses authorities of inaction in face of ‘wave of terror’
A Catholic Bishop has accused the authorities in Nigeria of the suspected supply of arms to an Islamist terrorist network, which he claims has infiltrated federal and state governments. Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan, Kaduna state, said he believed that the government has done little or nothing to stem “a […]
500 children taken by Boko Haram from one northern Nigeria city
As thousands of refugees return home to northern Nigeria, they are discovering with dismay the scale of devastation left by Boko Haram. In Damasak (Borno State), a city once occupied by the Islamist extremists, hundreds of children are missing. Most of them were seized by Boko Haram in autumn 2014. […]
German pastor tells of terrible suffering Nigerian Christians experience at hands of Boko Haram
A German pastor whose charity supports widows and orphans in north-eastern Nigeria has spoken of the terrible suffering endured there by victims of Boko Haram. Renate Ellmenreich used to teach literacy classes in the country, but returned home in 1999 after her husband died. However, speaking on the BBC World Service’s […]