A recent report by Open Doors International describes the situation as “unrelenting” and says it is a “time bomb,” with persecution still growing, but also becoming increasingly violent against Nigerian Christians.
The report underlines that Christians are being “selectively targeted” in their communities. The situation there has become so critical that according to the organization Open Doors, Christians in Nigeria are “close to extinction.”
Open Doors U.S. CEO Ryan Brown told Fox News Digital, “Just in Nigeria, there were more people killed because of their Christian faith last year than all other places on the planet combined,” explaining that “4,998 Christians lost their lives due to religious persecution in Nigeria last year.”
The 22-page report, “No Road Home,” examines attacks by Islamist terror groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), as well as mostly Muslim Fulani militants.”
One survivor had told us how the Fulani gunmen declared: “Allahu Akbar — Allah is the greatest, we will kill all of you Christians.” One said, “The house was set on fire by the Fulani. They burned our animals and the maize plants.”
A report by Open Doors also indicated that Nigerian Christians have been forced to convert to Islam in exchange for food or jobs. In the same period from October 2019 to September 2023, Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa said a total of Christians killed was higher compared to muslims with figures standing at.
The report mentioned that Christians are being displaced as IDPs in Nigeria. “Mass displacement of Christian communities has taken place over the last decade, fueled by extreme violence across parts of Nigeria,” Compass Direct News quoted Open Doors as saying Tuesday in a news release that said “those displaced in the North-Central region have largely been ignored.”
“We lost everything that I had”, Pastor Benjamin Barnabas said, a victim of a militant attack.
The U.S. State Department has condemned the violence in Nigeria amid attacks from Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa targeting both Christian and Muslim communities, adding it to a Special Watch List of countries that engage or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom. The Department said it was working with Nigerian security services and development programs to help stem the violence.
Elsewhere, Ryan Brown of Open Doors said persecution of Christians in Nigeria is spreading throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Open Doors report seeks more global attention and intervention, with Brown calling for solidarity: “The more we come together and share that knowledge or continue to increase the awareness… sends a message by saying ‘we see you’ so they don’t feel forgotten.”
