Tag: Nigeria

U.S. tags Boko Haram as terrorists

November 14, 2013 Nigeria Ansaru, Boko Haram, Children, Nigeria, Women

The United States has made official what Nigeria’s churches have long asserted: Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation. The state department announced on Thursday it has designated Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist organisation”, and as “specially designated global terrorists”. The Islamist insurgent group “is responsible for thousands of deaths in northeast . . . Read More

Number of Christian martyrs continues to cause debate

November 13, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Peshawar, Sudan, Syria

Ninety-six Christians died in the twin attacks on All Saints Church in Peshawar.World Watch Monitor The debate over the precise number of Christians martyred each year continues. In May, a Vatican spokesman told the United Nations Human Rights Council that as many as 100,000 Christians are martyred each year. . . . Read More

Boko Haram killing spree claims 110 Nigerians

October 1, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Catholics, Jos, Kaduna, Nigeria, Sharia, Yobe

The militant Islamist sect Boko Haram is suspected of killing at least 110 people of various faiths across Nigeria during the past week, prompting the country’s top Catholic bishop to declare the rebel movement “has no limits.” On Thursday, Sept. 26, gunmen killed Rev. Augustine Yohana, a Catholic priest, and . . . Read More

Violence locks down Nigerian town

September 24, 2013 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Nigeria

The largely Christian Nigerian town of Kafanchan is under 24-hour curfew after an outburst of violence Friday that left 10 people dead. News reports vary on the details of the violence, but generally agree that it involved two groups of youths – those indigenous to southern Kaduna state and those . . . Read More

Dozens of ‘noisy’ churches silenced in Cameroon

September 3, 2013 Cameroon Bamenda, Cameroon, Catholics, Churches, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Proselytism, Protestants, Yaoundé

The government of Cameroon has ordered the closure of dozens of churches in an attempt to put an end to what it considers to be anarchy among some Christian organisations. The measure, which authorities began to impose on August 23, targets Pentecostal churches, which are not officially recognised. The minister . . . Read More

Report: Nigeria violence is sectarian

August 20, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Religious freedom

Boko Haram is the foremost perpetrator of religiously motivated violence in Nigeria, claims a new report issued by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The report, issued Aug. 19 as an update to a July 2012 report, documents dozens of Boko Haram attacks on churches and individual Christians since . . . Read More

Bombs in Nigerian Christian district kill at least 12

July 31, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Sabon Gari

Police say 12 people are dead after multiple explosions on Monday night that rocked the Christian Sabon Gari area of Kano State in northern Nigeria, despite continuing government efforts to restore peace. No group has claimed responsibility for the July 29 blasts, but it is widely believed that the outlawed violent . . . Read More

Bashir trip to Nigeria sparks protest

July 17, 2013 African Union, Genocide, Goodluck Jonathan, Human rights, International Criminal Court, Nigeria, Omar al-Bashir, Sudan

Human rights groups are blasting Nigeria for hosting Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir at an African Union health summit, and have demanded his arrest on genocide charges from the International Criminal Court. However, a spokesman for Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan says “Nigeria is not in a position to determine who attends . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Nigeria in ‘Hezbollah’ arrests

May 31, 2013 Nigeria Kano, Nigeria

Authorities in Nigeria say they’ve arrested three Lebanese nationals in connection with a cache of weapons found in an underground bunker in the northern city of Kano, the BBC reports. The weapons include 11 anti-tank weapons and mines, an RPG, two artillery guns and ammunitions including AK47 rifles. The authorities . . . Read More

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