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.
Nigerian Christian schoolgirl ‘escaped’, only to be sent back to Boko Haram
The only Christian among the 110 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last month by Boko Haram ran away from her kidnappers but was caught and brought back three days later, according to fellow captives, reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper. Leah Sharibu, 14, and two other girls walked for three days and, hungry and exhausted, […]
Nigerian Christian who lost husband in Fulani attack: ‘I returned to encourage other women to do the same’
Shaforon village in north-east Nigeria’s Adamawa state is all but deserted. Residents fled to the bigger cities of Numan and the state capital, Yola, when the village was attacked by Fulani herdsmen in December. Hanatu Solomon, whose husband died during the attack, is one of the few to have returned. […]
104 Dapchi girls back home, but fate of Christian unknown
The more than 100 schoolgirls released four days ago by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria were returned to their families yesterday (25 March), the BBC reports. Immediately after their release they were flown to the capital, Abuja, for medical and security screening, and to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari. Meanwhile […]
Kidnapped Nigerian girl ‘will never become a Muslim,’ father says
The father of a Nigerian Christian girl kidnapped from her school in February says he is torn between concern for his daughter and encouragement that she refuses her abductors’ demands that she abandon her Christian faith. The girl, identified as Leah Sharibu, 14, by International Christian Concern, is one of […]
Nigerian kidnappers have released 101 girls. Nine have not returned; one of them is a Christian.
Of the 110 Nigerian girls kidnapped 19 Feb. by militants suspected to be affiliated with the violent Islamist group Boko Haram, 101 were unexpectedly released 21 March. Of the remaining nine, five are reported to have died during their captivity. And the other four? One of them is a Christian […]
Nigeria: Unexploded Air Force bombs found in shelled Christian village
Three months after at least 35 deaths were attributed to the Nigerian Air Force following its bombardment of six Christian communities in north-eastern Adamawa State, community leaders have expressed concern at the discovery of unexploded bombs. The bombs were found in the village of Shaforon and community leaders say they […]
Dozens killed in spate of violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt
Three more villages in Bassa Local Government Area (LGA), in Nigeria’s central Plateau State, have come under attack today, 14 March, as Fulani herdsmen continue their killing spree in the country’s volatile Middle Belt. The violence has claimed some 57 lives over the last two weeks alone. The assailants, identified […]
Nigeria Christians want International Criminal Court to investigate Air Force ‘complicity’ in ‘genocide’
Six Christian communities in north-eastern Nigeria have announced their intention to take the national Air Force to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its alleged bombing of their communities in December. Lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Kodomti and Shaforon – in the Demsa and Numan Local Government Areas of the Adamawa […]
Protest organiser arrested as Nigerian Christians call for end to herdsmen killings
Police in Nigeria’s north-eastern Adamawa State last week arrested the organiser of a protest march against the continued killings of predominantly Christian famers by mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen. Mijah Stanley had called on “all pro-democracy and civil rights organisations, faith-based and community-based organisations, as well as other Nigerians” to rally […]
Bloody clashes in Kaduna as Christian youths resist dating and conversion of Christian girls
Clashes over the forceful conversion of Christian girls to Islam has left 12 people dead in Nigeria’s north-western state of Kaduna. Several others sustained injuries from gunshots and machetes, while dozens of shops, houses and vehicles were set ablaze in the Kasuwan Magani Community of Kajuru Local Government Area. […]