Tag: Nigeria

Violent Islamist militancy spreads into weak states across sub-Saharan Africa

January 15, 2020 International Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Nigeria

Nigerien soldiers on patrol near the town of Arlit, north-central Niger. (Photo: Getty)

The newly-released annual World Watch List (WWL) of the top 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian shows that, especially in the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, the rise of Islamist militancy has become a challenge not only to Christians, but also to the existence . . . Read More

Christians in Africa face ‘explosion’ in violence, senior church leader says

December 20, 2019 International Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Islamic extremism, Mozambique, Nigeria

Church leaders as well as government officials and representatives of the Muslim community attended the funeral of the six killed in the Dablo attack. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Violence against Christians in Africa “is exploding”, according to a senior church leader in the Central African Republic. In Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mozambique there has been an increase in attacks on Christians, including church leaders and churches in recent weeks, said Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga in an interview with the . . . Read More

Nigeria: Violence continues but government in denial, church leaders say

July 25, 2019 Nigeria Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, Genocide, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau

A village in northern Nigeria after an attack by Fulani militants. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A pregnant woman and a child were among four people killed in attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Plateau State last week. The attackers targeted the villages of Ancha and Tafigana in the Bassa Local Government area, as reported by news site Nasoweseeamonline. Margaret Wakili, 27, from Ancha – . . . Read More

5 years on, 112 Chibok girls missing – but they are just ‘tip of the iceberg’

April 12, 2019 Nigeria Chibok girls, Children, Kidnapping, Minorities, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Women

Dr Rebecca Dali talks of 5th anniversary of Chibok girls' kidnap, from Abuja, Nigeria

Five years ago, April 14th, 2014, about 230 girls from Chibok Girls’ Secondary School in NE Nigeria were rounded up at night by men in army dress and driven off on trucks into the darkness. In the immediate aftermath, 47 of them escaped; some jumped off the trucks, others managed . . . Read More

For persecuted Christian women, violence is compounded by ‘shaming’

March 8, 2019 International Algeria, Colombia, Converts, Eritrea, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Women, Yemen

Women to women conference in Ethiopia, February 2018.

It would be hard to argue the world is unaware that Islamic State fighters used rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war against Iraq’s Yazidi women: Nadia Murad shared the 2018 Nobel Prize after she told the world of her personal ordeal at their hands. However, testimonies from . . . Read More

Nigeria: ‘Dangerous speech and polarising narratives’ fuel Middle Belt violence – report

February 21, 2019 Nigeria Boko Haram, Elections, Fulani herdsmen, Middle Belt, Nigeria

Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase, [caption id="attachment_37447" align="aligncenter" width="770"]Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase, displacing thousands of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor) Attacks from Fulani herders against Christians in the Middle Belt have been on the increase and the conflict has become the country’s gravest security challenge. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The use of dangerous rhetoric and religious polarisation has contributed to the escalation and can spark further violence, particularly in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, ahead of the presidential elections this Saturday, says a new report. Central Nigeria is seen as one of the most influential constituencies in Saturday’s elections “because of . . . Read More

As Nigeria votes, family and churches urge candidates to remember Christian teen Leah Sharibu

February 21, 2019 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Dapchi, Leah Sharibu, Nigeria, Women, Yobe

Leah Sharibu was 14 when she was abducted by Boko Haram exactly one year ago.

One year since the Christian teenager Leah Sharibu was abducted from her boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria by an Islamist group, a coalition of groups have called on presidential candidates to tell Nigerians how they plan to secure her release. “We are urging the political parties and their candidates that . . . Read More

Nigeria elections: Whomever wins, Christians hope for justice and security

February 15, 2019 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Dapchi, Elections, Fulani herdsmen, Leah Sharibu, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau, Yobe

Burned church in a village in Nigeria's southern Kaduna after an attack by suspected Fulani gunmen. Violence attributed to militant herdsmen in Nigeria reached a record high last year. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As Nigerians are preparing to go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new president, Boko Haram has been stepping up attacks in the northeast of the country, making it difficult if not impossible for people to vote. On Tuesday, 12 February, the Islamist militants attacked Madagali town, Gulak, Magar . . . Read More

US Ambassador tells Nigerians: “Citizens are the government”

February 11, 2019 Nigeria Elections, Nigeria

The Archbishop of Jos, Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, speaks while (from left to right) Secretary General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, US Ambassador Stuart Symington and Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam listen. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As Nigerians prepare for elections this week, the US Ambassador encouraged religious leaders to “inspire non-violence through their actions”, reports the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust. Stuart Symington told Christian and Muslim leaders at a roundtable event in the central Nigerian city of Jos last week (6 February) that “it’s about . . . Read More

From China to sub-Saharan Africa, Christians experience high levels of persecution in 73 countries

January 16, 2019 International Buddhist nationalism, China, Colombia, Copts, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, India, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Vietnam, World Watch List

In its latest annual survey of 150 countries monitoring how difficult it is to live as a Christian, out today, the overall trend in the 2019 World Watch List is that almost half (73) showed extreme, very high or high levels of persecution. A year earlier, it was 58 countries. . . . Read More

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