Report says Nigeria world’s most dangerous country, where Muslims kill Christians with impunity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria is the world’s most dangerous country to be a Christian, particularly in the North where the Muslim majority treat believers in Jesus Christ as second class citizens not worthy of human rights.
International Christian Concern (ICC) made the disclosure in its 2023 report which noted how Muslim extremists and militants have been killing Christians in Africa’s most populous nation and dispossessing them of their lands for two decades running.
The report dwells on Christian persecution across the world and cited how Nigerian leaders wrongly tie the attacks around farmer/herders clashes with ethnic conflicts, whereas the killings and other atrocities are genocide against Christians.
“Nigeria is arguably the most dangerous place to be a Christian in the world today. In the North, a very hostile group of Muslim extremists have attacked and devastated the minority population of Christians,” the report said.
“In the Middle Belt, armed Islamic terrorists, known as Fulani militants, have been killing Christians and stealing their land at a prodigious rate for the last 20 years.
“Between mass murder and land stealing, millions of Christians have been displaced. Since May 2011, Boko Haram alone has been recorded as being responsible for more than 38,000 deaths.
“Nigerian leaders tell the West that this is a complicated problem between herders and farmers with tribal overlays. But the truth is that we are witnessing a genocide of Christians in the North and Middle Belt, accompanied by an immense land grab.”
ICC lamented no fewer than 549 Christians were killed in 55 attacks in Nigeria between March and July 2023 alone, stressing “whether the world acknowledges the plight of Nigerian Christians or not, the country has become a burial ground for Christians.”
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Sharia law endangers Christians
Sharia law practised in 12 Northern states endangers non-Muslims in those states, the report warned, per The PUNCH.
“Sharia law, as applied today in Nigeria, violates the principles of secularism and endangers non-Muslim religious communities in the northern and Middle Belt regions.
“Despite repeatedly claiming to be a secular nation, 12 northern states in Nigeria have adopted Islamic Sharia criminal law, meaning that Christians do not participate as equal members of society.
“Given its inherently religious nature, Sharia is problematic when applied particularly when they are charged under criminal Sharia law.”
ICC urged the United States to add Nigeria back to the list of countries with severe violations of religious freedom.
“That Nigerian domestic security policy addresses the needs of particularly vulnerable religious communities by responding to threats quickly and ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice.
“That Nigeria be added back to the Countries of Particular Concern list designation it held in 2020 before inexplicably being removed in 2021. USCIRF has recommended that Nigeria be listed as a country of Particular Concern every year since 2009.
“That U.S. foreign aid in Nigeria be conditioned on substantial improvement around religious freedom, including the repeal of blasphemy laws and rescinding Sharia courts’ authority over criminal matters.”
North Korea, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, Eritrea, Algeria, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan are other countries ICC named as oppressive to Christians.