JOHANNESBURG — A never-ending massacre of Christians “killed for sport” is reportedly taking place in Nigeria, yet the world seems largely deaf to the issue.
While much of the world this week celebrates a beginning – Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ – in Nigeria, we mourn the end of life – the deaths of more than 100 Christians – as the the world remains practically silent.
According to Amnesty International, armed bandits have rampaged through around 20 communities in central Nigeria, killing more than 140 people. In a country where it is traditionally difficult to obtain precise statistics, some sources put the death toll at nearly 200.
Christians have been killed in a wide swath, across an invisible line that separates the country’s predominantly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south in Plateau State. According to several sources, Christians represent 46% of the Nigerian population.
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This baby was injured during Christmas Day attacks at a nursing home in Bokkos, Plateau State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
“There was yet another Christmas massacre in Nigeria yesterday. The world is silent. It’s just unbelievable,” tweeted leading evangelist Rev. Johnnie Moore on X, formerly Twitter.
More than 52,000 Christians “have been massacred or killed to death because they were Christians” since 2009 in Nigeria, according to Intersociety, a civil society group based in Onitsha.
“The US Mission in Nigeria condemned the recent attacks in Plateau State and expressed its sincere condolences for the tragic loss of life,” a statement said. US Department of State ” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response to a question. Calling for accountability, the spokesperson added: “We are deeply concerned about the violence and are monitoring the situation.”
“The worst place in the world to be a Christian is West Africa, especially parts of Nigeria,” Rev. Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. Moore is a former commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and co-author of “The Next Jihad.”
“When ISIS was at its peak in Iraq and Syria in 2015, terrorists in a single state in Nigeria killed more Christians than all those killed by ISIS. ISIS Caliphate in Syria and Iraq combined,” Moore told Fox News Digital.
Family members gather on December 27, 2023 to bury their loved ones killed by armed groups in Maiyanga village in Plateau State, central Nigeria. (Kim Masara/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
“Not a day goes by without Christians being terrorized in West Africa in the most grotesque ways imaginable,” he continued. “Christians are being killed for sport, especially Christian children. For every massacre you hear about, there are probably ten more happening in the shadows. The death toll regularly runs into the hundreds.”
“Entire villages are being burned and pillaged. Thousands of churches have been destroyed. Children and women are being hunted down. Countless Christians have been kidnapped. I met a pastor whose two previous churches had been burned down. Yet , he remained in danger because he was determined to be a light in the darkness, even if it (cost him) his life, and it probably will.”
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“There is a new, deadlier threat that can threaten both Christians and Muslims: the threat of jihadists,” Walid Phares told Fox News Digital. Phares is a political analyst who has studied jihadists in Africa and the Middle East for several decades and has written several books on the subject, including “The Confrontation: Winning the War Against Future Jihad.”
“Indoctrinated by the Muslim Brotherhood and trained by Al-Qaeda Africa, the Boko Haram of northern Nigeria are gradually becoming the country’s IS,” Phares said. “They are repressing moderate Muslims and massacring Christians. Boko Haram attacks Christians in the central Plateau region (state) to expel them and seize their land.
This image from an AFPTV video taken on December 25, 2023 shows villagers atop a car with their belongings as they flee their homes in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State in Nigeria. (Kim Masara/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
“There is an economic factor in the conflict, but economics is omnipresent in all similar conflicts, so it cannot explain the violence in the same way that jihadist ideology explains it. The goal of Nigerian jihadists is to expel the Christians to the south, then eliminate them.”
Moore added: “There have been hot spots of jihadist activity in Africa for a generation, but what we’re seeing now is that these hot spots are converging into a fragmentary Islamic state, which has all the brutality that we have witnessed in Israel on October 7 and in Iraq and Syria 10 years ago.”
Eyewitnesses said that when the Christmas attacks began, it took up to 12 hours for help to arrive. Former Nigerian Army Chief of Staff Ty Danjuma said this was because government troops were working alongside the attackers.
“The armed forces are not neutral, they are in collusion with the bandits who are killing Nigerians,” he told an applauding crowd this week. “They (the army) facilitate their movements, they cover them. If you rely on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will die one by one.”
The State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks and we cannot confirm the motivations of the perpetrators. Religious freedom is a key U.S. foreign policy priority and plays a leading role in our ongoing engagement with the Nigerian government. We remain concerned about religious freedom in Nigeria and will continue to work with the Government of Nigeria to address religious freedom issues and ensure that all human rights are protected, including freedom of religion or belief.
This image from an AFPTV video taken on December 26, 2023 shows an aerial view of destroyed houses in the village of Maiyanga after armed groups carried out a series of deadly attacks in Plateau State, central Nigeria. (Kim Masara/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
Critics say the administration should do more. Earlier this month, 29 religious freedom activists urged members of Congress to demand that the Biden administration once again designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in the State Department’s international religious freedom report , which compiles a list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. The Trump administration put Nigeria on the list in 2020, but the The Biden administration made the country disappear the list despite protests from human rights groups.
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The Nigerian Inter-Society Group recently said more than 34,000 moderate Muslims had also been killed in Nigeria since 2009. But Phares said there could be hope for peace, but action was needed now.
“Many Muslim communities reject jihadism and seek coexistence. After ethnic cleansing of Christians, jihadists (in Nigeria) will turn against moderate and reform-minded Muslims, as in Afghanistan or Iran. US, EU and The UN must create a platform for moderate Muslims and Christians in Nigeria and provide support to civil society Nigeria could be fixed.
Moore called for immediate action to end the killings: “More can be done. More must be done now. The writing isn’t just on the wall, it’s everywhere. »
