Nigeria Is the “Global Epicenter of Violent Christian Persecution”

A burned-out Christian church and vehicle in Northern Nigeria

EC : Jihadist violence continues to escalate in Nigeria. Christians in the country face systematic, targeted violence, primarily from Islamic terror groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), alongside radical Muslim Fulani factions.

These groups explicitly target Christians through killings, kidnappings, sexual violence, and destruction of villages. The Nigerian government’s failure to protect Christians and punish perpetrators has only strengthened the Islamic militants’ influence.

The violence against Christians in Nigeria has escalated sharply since at least 2011, with documented killings and attacks increasing steadily. Data from Open Doors show over 41,000 Christian deaths between October 2011 and September 2024, highlighting a prolonged and intensifying crisis.

The steady influx over recent years of Fulani Muslims and Shuwa Arabs from neighboring countries adds to the threat of violence. Women and girls are abducted, raped, sexually enslaved, and killed by terrorists. In addition to being forcibly ‘married’ to Muslims against their will, girls abducted by terrorists have reportedly been used as human shields or leverage in negotiations.

Kidnapping for ransom is also used regularly, with the deliberate intention of destabilizing Christian families and the church. Abduction has become an industry, leading to intergenerational bankruptcy, in which a huge ransom is demanded from the family to return the victim. This is also the case for Christian parishes or congregations, whose priests or pastors are abducted, and the community is forced to impoverish itself to raise the ransom.

Amid the genocidal violence against Nigerian Christians, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. government is ready to protect Nigerian Christians through military action against terrorists if the Nigerian government continues to fail to protect its Christian citizens.

Read it all here.......