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.
10 killed, four churches burned in Nigeria
Ten people were killed and four churches burned in two separate Dec. 1 attacks in northeast Nigeria by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist group. The victims included nine Christians and one Muslim, who were killed in Kwaple village, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno state […]
Nigeria – twin suicide attacks on Kaduna church, after future Archbishop of Canterbury visits
Amidst continuing attacks on Churches and Christian communities in northern Nigeria, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair has launched a faith-based programme to promote religious tolerance in the country. Eleven people were killed and thirty others injured in two successive suicide attacks on Sunday, November 25 at […]
Nigerian Christians on frontline vow to stay despite 40 ‘barbaric’ student deaths
President Goodluck Jonathan’s commiseration visit to relatives on Oct 15th, two weeks after the murder of about 40 students from three higher education institutions in Mubi, in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria, has failed to elucidate further the motive behind the deaths. What has become clear, however, is that the perpetrators […]
‘I will never forget that day’
It has been nearly three months since Hannatu Dantong’s husband died. She has been surrounded by his colleagues and family during this time, but still is in a deep state of mourning. “I find the greatest comfort in Psalm 23,” Dantong said. “I am reminded that the Lord will always […]
Nigerian church tries to move on after massacre
The church is still empty. Clothes and Bibles remain scattered throughout the sanctuary. Dried bloodstains the floor. One month after gunmen opened fire inside Deeper Life Bible Church in Eika-Adagu, a suburb 12 kilometers from the town of Okene in central Nigeria’s Kogi state, members of the church have yet […]
Gunmen attack Nigerian worship service, kill 19
Anti-Christian violence erupted yet again in Nigeria on the night of Monday, July 6. A gang of gunmen, carrying sophisticated arms, surrounded and invaded Deeper Life Church in the town of Okene, in Kogi state, in the southern region of the country. World Watch Monitor has published a Storify report […]
Violence topples Nigeria’s ‘bridge’
Gyang Dantong was killed while attending a funeral. He was among a handful of elected members of Nigerian government attempting to bury the more than 100 Christians killed just the day before, when Muslim gunmen had rampaged through several villages in Nigeria’s central Plateau state. The sheer scale of the […]
Church of Christ in Nigeria reeling from massacre
In the Plateau state of central Nigeria, tensions had run high all week between ethnic Fulani, who are mainly Muslim, and ethnic Birom, mainly Christian. It was only the latest outbreak of anger in a decade-long cycle of aggression and reprisals. But this time, anxiety ran high enough that, by […]
Nigerian attackers kill dozens of Christians
The news is distressingly familiar: A series of attacks on African Christian communities leaves many dead or injured. On Saturday, July 7, coordinated attacks killed dozens of people in Nigeria’s Plateau state. One news report claims the death toll, from the initial attacks and reprisals, has risen to more than 100. […]
Islamists bomb three churches in Kaduna, Nigeria
Suspected Islamic extremists bombed three churches in Kaduna state this morning, the third consecutive Sunday that worship services in Nigeria have ended in lethal bloodshed. In a predominantly Christian area of Zaria known as Wusasa, a suspected Islamic extremist crashed a car into a barricade at an Evangelical Church Winning […]