The Founder President of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Mervyn Thomas, has warned that Nigerian Christians are “under increasing siege” due to the lack or unwillingness of the federal government to tackle a plethora of armed and sometimes Islamic militant groups.
His comments got here following a rare piece of fine news from Nigeria, when 38 members of the Christ Apostolic Church kidnapped by Fulani militia were released.
More Christians are killed or kidnapped every yr in Nigeria than in some other country on earth. While those that are kidnapped are sometimes released or are capable of escape, many remain in captivity for years.
Of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, 139 were capable of escape while 103 were eventually released via negotiation. Some 91 girls remain unaccounted for but have most certainly been forced into “marriages”, slavery or, tragically, have died since then.
Attacks in Nigeria have gotten increasingly common. Last week there have been three separate incidents in three days in addition to the mass kidnapping of over 300 students and staff from the Catholic St Mary High School, in Papiri district in Niger state. While 50 children later managed to flee, at the very least 265 students and teachers remain in captivity.
Church leaders have raised concerns that militant activity intensifies during Christian festivals.
Earlier this yr Catholic bishop Wilfred Anagbe said that massacres during Christian festivals were becoming “customary” in parts of the country, while one other bishop John Bakeni, last month warned that in some parts of the country the violence had “assumed genocidal character”.
The situation has not gone unnoticed abroad, with US President Donald Trump redesignating Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC).
Mr Thomas said, “Nigerian civilians are under increasing siege by multiple armed non-state actors. This unprecedented rise in insecurity … is emblematic of continuous religious discrimination in Shari’a states, highlight why the United States was right to designate Nigeria a CPC, and the urgent need for the federal government of Nigeria to reply decisively to each terrorist violence and systematic repression.
“We call on Nigeria to proceed engaging positively with the CPC process, securing all needed assistance to deal with religion-related crises and hold sponsors and perpetrators accountable.
“We also call on international media particularly to take great care to report on the situation in Nigeria in a way that neither minimises nor sensationalises the religious element of the violence, but reflects the realities on the bottom.”
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