Following another attack on a Christian community in Nigeria, a major human rights organisation has declared genocide against Christians in the country.
After a Fulani herdsmen attack on April 4 that murdered three Christians, Addison Parker of the US-based International Christian Concern (ICC) claimed, “Christians are killed every day in Nigeria.”
The attack in April happened just two weeks after another strike on March 23 that killed at least 34 people.
“The investigation (on the March 23 attack) confirmed the deaths of 34 persons, including two military officers and 32 locals.” Many residences were burned down, with some sources indicating that up to 200 homes were destroyed. “This attack also devastates Nigerian Christians spiritually, who feel hopeless in their efforts to secure their communities,” Parker said.
According to him, Fulani militants are responsible for the majority of attacks on Christians in Nigeria, followed by Boko Haram and its spinoff, the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).
“Because of the regularity and intensity of these attacks, Christians in Nigeria’s North and Middle Belt live in perpetual fear,” Parker added.
Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people, with Christians and Muslims almost evenly split.
The Muslim-majority north, where Sharia law has been established in some states, and Nigeria’s “Middle Belt,” where the Muslim north meets the Christian south, are both hostile to Christians.
Since 2002, the Islamist group Boko Haram has been active in the country’s northeast, while Muslim Fulani herdsmen have been targeting Christian farming communities across the country.
“There isn’t a month that goes by in the Middle Belt without a major or minor attack. Fulani herdsmen and militia, the most of whom are Muslims, are the perpetrators of these attacks. Some of these attacks have resulted in the destruction or vandalism of churches. The attacks’ pattern indicates that they are frequently well-coordinated,” Parker added.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has declared the attacks on Nigerian Christians to be genocide.
“The United Nations defines genocide as the deliberate killing of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part.” This is exactly what the Fulani Militants, Boko Haram, and its spinoff, Islamic State West Africa, are doing in Nigeria,” Parker added.
“Christian farmers are being assassinated on a regular basis. Churches are burned down, and priests are targeted. While other causes are at play, such as Muslim herders’ need for land, the extremist belief that they are superior to those they label “infidels” – anyone who does not follow their extreme agenda – fuels the brutal means utilised to accomplish such goals. This gives them the justification to purge the country of anyone who threatens their objectives, all in the name of “Allah.” He told Crux, “This has been going on for the last 20 years.”
The International Criminal Court has gone to great lengths to condemn the Nigerian government’s complacency in the face of attacks against Christians, claiming that the government’s silence on the problem is “by design.”
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, is a devout Muslim who has had a tense relationship with the Christian community in the country.
Christian leaders have accused Buhari of preferring his fellow Muslims, with some even claiming that he wants to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state, something the president has categorically denied.
The country’s Catholic bishops reaffirmed their condemnation of the administration in a statement issued on April 4.
“The fact that all of these atrocities against the people and the country occur without a single arrest or prosecution appears to lend credence to the widely held impression that the administration is complacent, powerless, or compromising,” the bishops added.
“It is difficult to imagine that our security establishment has the intelligence or capability to combat and destroy terrorists in our country… Nigerians are tired of the government’s flimsy reasons and false pledges to deal with terrorism, according to the statement.
“For a long time, our country has teetered on the brink of collapse. As a result, the government should cease trying to play the ostrich while the country bleeds profusely and take immediate efforts to expose these marauding terrorists and their sponsors,” the bishops said.
In its 2021 Persecutor of the Year Report, the International Criminal Court named Nigeria as the worst persecuting country, according to Parker.
“We have local workers on the ground with whom we communicate on a regular basis, who provide us with breaking news and updates on previous incidents, as well as their unique frontline perspective.” We’ll keep expanding our work and assisting victims through programmes like communal farms, small company start-ups, and emergency food assistance,” he said.
