Violence in Nigeria against Christians by groups like Boko Haram is continuing unabated

J. Peter Pham’s lecture at Christianity & National Security 2023. J. Peter Pham discusses the demographic, economic, and spiritual growth…

Despite the refusal of the Biden Administration to acknowledge the religious nature of the conflict in Northern Nigeria, it is certainly there.

Two recently held major international conferences brought together thousands of religious freedom advocates and government officials to cooperate in taking concrete action to end religious persecution.  

The mass murder of praying congregants in a Nigerian church was horrific enough. But even worse was the daft conclusion of Irish President Michael Higgins that it was another grim consequence of climate change.

On Easter weekend Christians the world over prayed; some went to church. In Nigeria’s Plateau State, a Fulani pastor was martyred.

The US has inexplicably removed Nigeria from its State Department list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). To some, that may sound like innocuous paperwork or an ambassadorial feel-good gesture. But, in fact, this de-listing of Nigeria’s CPC designation is an outrageous betrayal of an already brutalized Christian community.

Around 350,000 people have been killed due to violence in northern Nigeria as of the end of 2020, according to new UN estimates. Many of those killed were Christians.

Human rights advocates, when looking at Nigeria’s north and central regions, fear an accelerating disintegration of Nigeria’s society and institutions. We all should be concerned that, if current trends are not arrested, Nigeria may implode, with global economic ramifications. A new wave of Nigerian displacement and emigration would rival those associated with Libya, Syria, and Iraq.