Aid group labels persecution of Christians in Nigeria a ‘genocide’

YAOUNDÈ, Cameroon – After another attack on a Christian community in Nigeria, a major human rights organization is claiming the killing of Christians in the country amounts to a genocide.

“Christians are killed daily in Nigeria,” said Addison Parker of the U.S.-based International Christian Concern (ICC) after an April 4 attack by Fulani herdsmen that left three Christians dead.

The April attack came just two weeks after a March 23 attack that left at least 34 people dead.

“The report (about the March 23 attack) confirmed that 34 people were killed, including two military personnel and 32 residents. Many houses were destroyed, with some reports estimating up to 200 homes burned down. Spiritually, this attack further devastates Nigerian Christians who feel hopeless in their efforts to secure their communities,” Parker told Crux.

He said most of the attacks on Christians in Nigeria are carried out by Fulani militants, followed by Boko Haram and their offshoot, the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).

“Christians in Nigeria’s North and Middle Belt live in constant fear of these attacks due to their frequency and severity,” Parker said.

Nigeria has a population of over 200 million, almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.

Christians face persecution in the Muslim-majority north – where Sharia law has been imposed in several states – and Nigeria’s “Middle Belt” where the Muslim north meets the Christian south.

The Islamist Boko Haram have been operating in the country’s northeast since 2002, and Fulani herdsmen – who are Muslim – have been attacking Christian farming communities throughout the country.

“In the Middle Belt, there’s hardly a month that passes without a big or small attack. These attacks are carried out by Fulani herdsmen and militia who are predominantly Muslims. Churches have been destroyed or vandalized in some of these attacks. The pattern of the attacks shows that they are often well coordinated,” Parker said.

The ICC has claimed the attacks on Nigerian Christians meet the definition of a genocide.

“The UN defines genocide as intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. This is exactly what is happening in Nigeria at the hands of Fulani militants, Boko Haram, and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa,” Parker explained.

“Christian farmers are being killed daily. Priests are targeted, churches are burned down. While other factors are at play, such as Muslim herders desire for land grabbing, the horrific measures taken to fulfill such desires is fueled by the extremist notion that they are superior to those whom they consider ‘infidels’ – anyone that doesn’t follow their extremist agenda. This gives them the excuse to rid the country of anyone they see as a threat to their goals, all in the name of Allah. This has been happening for the last 20 years,” he told Crux.

The ICC has gone out of its way to condemn the Nigerian government of complacency on the attacks on Christians, saying that the government’s silence over the issue is “by design.”

The president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, is a devout Muslim and has had a fraught relationship with the country’s Christian community.

Christian leaders have accused Buhari of favoring his co-religionists; many even say he wishes to make Nigeria an Islamic republic, although the president has strenuously denied this claim.

In an April 4 statement, the country’s Catholic bishops renewed their criticism of the government.

“The fact that all these atrocities against the people and the nation happen without a single arrest or prosecution seem to give credibility to the widespread belief that the government is complacent, helpless, or compromising,” the bishops said.

“It is, indeed, very hard to believe that our security apparatus lacks intelligence or the ability to fight and defeat terrorists in our nation… Nigerians are sick of flimsy excuses and bogus promises of the government to deal with terrorists,” the statement reads.

”Our country has long teetered on the precipice of a failed state. Government should, therefore, stop trying to play the ostrich as the nation profusely bleeds and take urgent steps to unmask these marauding terrorists and their sponsors without further delay,” the bishops warned.

Parker noted that the ICC named Nigeria as the worst persecuting country in its 2021 Persecutor of the Year Report.

“We have local staff on the ground who we are in daily communication with, who send us breaking news and updates on recent attacks as well as their unique frontline perspective. We continue to expand our work and assist victims through projects such as communal farms, small business start-ups, and emergency food assistance,” he told Crux.