Tag: Nigeria

UK parliamentary group calls out 27 countries for ‘significant’ religious freedom violations

December 10, 2018 International Afghanistan, Ahmed Shaheed, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Egypt, Eritrea, Human rights, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tariq Ahmad, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UK, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

A church in Bartella, a town near the Iraqi city of Mosul, after Islamic State militants left the area in October 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A “Commentary on the Current State of Freedom of Religion or Belief” presented by a group of British parliamentarians today, 10 December, highlights 27 countries where people’s religious freedom has been denied and abused in the past year. The report, presented by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International . . . Read More

West ‘failing to convert words of concern into action’ against ultra-nationalism

November 23, 2018 International Buddhist nationalism, Hindu nationalism, Islamic extremism, Kyrgyzstan, Minorities, Nigeria, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Shia, Sunni

“Ultra-nationalism” promoted by governments and non-state bodies has triggered a rise in hatred against minorities, according to a new report by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Countries where such hatred is on the rise include “key parts of the world” such as China, India, Pakistan and . . . Read More

Prince Charles bypassing Jos ‘robbed Nigeria’s Christians of opportunity to create awareness about our travails’

November 9, 2018 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Jos, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau, Prince Charles

Christians in Nigeria’s central state of Plateau are upset about the Federal Government of Nigeria advising Prince Charles to bypass Jos, the capital of Plateau, during his visit to the country as part of a tour of West Africa. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrived in Abuja, the capital, . . . Read More

UK government commits £12 million to championing religious freedom

November 9, 2018 International Alexandria, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Easter, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palm Sunday, Plateau, Religious freedom, UK

More than 20 people lost their lives in the Palm Sunday attack on the St George Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt.

The UK government has committed £12 million ($15.5 million) to championing freedom of religion of belief worldwide. The UK’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Lord Tariq Ahmad, said the money “will go a long way in bolstering the work of civil society and NGOs to promote respect, . . . Read More

Chibok girls last seen in northern Cameroon

October 29, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Cameroon, Chibok girls, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

A Nigerian woman who was kept in captivity by Boko Haram with some of the Chibok schoolgirls has escaped and brought news of the girls to their parents, Reuters reported earlier this month. Jumai, 35, from a town near Chibok, was captured with her six children in April 2014 – around . . . Read More

Nigeria: Stop ‘rumour mongering’ that led to Kaduna violence, says church leader

October 23, 2018 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Middle Belt, Nigeria

A vigilante walks through the village of Bakin Kogi, in Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria, where four people were killed in an attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen in February 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)

A senior church leader in Nigeria has said that “rumour mongering” was at the heart of last week’s violence in north-western Kaduna state, which killed 55 people, reports Nigeria’s Daily Post. Following the violence a curfew was imposed. The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Rev. Mathew Ndagoso, urged citizens to refrain . . . Read More

Nigerian student recalls the night 10 family members were killed in front of her

October 22, 2018 Nigeria Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen, Jos, Nigeria, Plateau, Rape

When 23-year-old student Blessing Kogi returned home on Thursday 27 September, she was full of joy, expecting to spend a restful evening with her family in their quiet, residential neighbourhood of Rukuba Road, in the south-western outskirts of Jos, the capital of Nigeria’s Plateau state. Twelve members of her family . . . Read More

Chibok girls documentary airing tonight in the US

October 22, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu, Nigeria, USA

A documentary showing the struggle of 103 Nigerian schoolgirls to reintegrate after their release from Boko Haram captivity will show tonight on the US satellite TV channel HBO. Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram, a co-production of HBO, BBC2 and ARTE France, will be on at 7pm Central Time. The . . . Read More

Nigerian Islamist extremists kill aid worker ‘for work for Red Cross’, Christians ‘slaves for life’

October 16, 2018 Nigeria Abuja, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Justin Welby, Leah Sharibu, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

In Nigeria, a faction of Boko Haram – the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) – has killed a second aid worker kidnapped eight months ago. It’s also threatened to keep 15-year-old Leah Sharibu and Alice Loksha Ngaddah, a Christian nurse with UNICEF and mother of two (a boy, five, and . . . Read More

Leah Sharibu’s mother pleads with Nigerian president as kidnappers threaten to kill daughter

October 4, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Leah Sharibu, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

The mother of the Christian girl detained by Boko Haram for over seven months has called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to secure her daughter’s release. Leah Sharibu, 15, was one of 110 girls kidnapped on 19 February 2018 from a school in Nigeria’s north-eastern town of Dapchi, in Yobe . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye