The International Christian Concern (ICC) has ruled that Nigeria remained among the most dangerous places to practise the faith in the world, with over 549 Christians killed in 55 attacks between March and July 2023.
In its 2023 report on Christian persecutors in the world, ICC said that in the last 20 years extremists and militants had slain Christians and taken their lands in the world’s largest black nation.
Although the organisation’s report stated that Nigerian leaders credited the attacks to farmer and herders clashes laced with ethnic conflicts, the killings and other atrocities amounted to “genocide against Christians.”
The report read: “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. 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.”
It said the country had turned to a huge graveyard for followers of Christ.
“Whether the world acknowledges the plight of Nigerian Christians or not, the country has become a burial ground for Christians,” the report said.
According to the report, Sharia law adopted in 12 northern states had endangered non-Muslims in those states.
It said, “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 place Nigeria back on the list of countries with severe violations of religious freedom.
It stated, “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 listed by the organisation as being oppressive towards Christians.