1.3 million Christians displaced in N. Nigeria

Christians in northern Nigeria have paid a heavy price for Fulani herdshmen’s attacks and Boko Haram’s insurgency, which aims at implementing Sharia in Africa’s most populous country. An estimated 11,500 Christians were killed, over 1.3 million others were displaced and 13,000 churches destroyed or abandoned between 2006 and 2014, said . . . Read More

Boko Haram headlines hide persecution of Christians in mid-Nigeria, too

Boko Haram headlines hide persecution of Christians in mid-Nigeria, too
The whole world has heard of the Chibok abduction: the 276 girls, predominantly Christians, kidnapped by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria in April 2014. There are 220 still missing. But the publicity surrounding this serves to hide a more widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. Nigeria . . . Read More

Gunmen kill 100 Christian villagers in central Nigeria

Gunmen kill 100 Christian villagers in central Nigeria
While all eyes are on Nigeria’s north-eastern regions where the radical group Boko Haram is at last being challenged by multi-national military forces, violence targeting Christian communities in the group of states across the centre of Nigeria, known as the Middle Belt, has increased dramatically. This comes ahead of Presidential . . . Read More

Nigerians, fearing election violence, forfeit vote to move to other end of country

Nigerians, fearing election violence, forfeit vote to move to other end of country
Ahead of Nigeria’s general elections on 28 March, hundreds of people, fearful of election violence, have fled back to their place of origin, World Watch Monitor has been told. The election was originally scheduled for 14 February, before being postponed to the March date for security reasons. Take for example . . . Read More

2014: A year of rising hostility toward Christians

2014: A year of rising hostility toward Christians
While the world’s eyes were riveted to Syria and Iraq in 2014, life for Christians worsened even more profoundly in Africa, according to an annual report on religious freedom. The situation deteriorated most rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries where Islamic extremism is the main source of pressure upon Christians, . . . Read More