12/11/2024 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) — For more than a decade now, one country alone has produced the majority of the world’s Christian martyrs. Nigeria has seen more than 50,000 Christians killed between 2009 and 2023. During that period, millions were displaced from their homes.
Though many persons both inside and outside Nigeria have sought to deny or obfuscate the anti-Christian sentiment in these attacks, the religious motivation becomes painfully clear when the violence occurs on Christmas. Last year, a series of lethal Christmas attacks on Nigerian Christians killed and maimed hundreds.
With this year’s Christmas drawing closer, many Nigerian Christians are thinking about more than Christ’s birth and festivities.
“Considering the ongoing violence and persecution against Christians, it’s almost certain that many churches will have police or security personnel present,” said Samuel, a Nigerian Christian now studying in the United Kingdom. He is a native of the northern state of Kaduna, which saw dozens of Christians murdered during Christmas in 2022 and suffered an Easter attack in 2012 that also killed dozens.
With large-scale massacres having occurred during the previous two Christmases, Samuel said his loved ones in northern Nigeria will be taking safety precautions this Christmas.
“Threats are reported to the authorities, but some people don’t trust the security agencies and feel the need to defend themselves instead,” he said, adding that it’s common for some churches in the North to have their own security guards to protect worshipers.
Christians comprise almost half the total population in Nigeria, but they are a frequently hunted minority in the country’s heavily Muslim northern region. Whether the perpetrators are Boko Haram, Islamic Fulani militants, or some other jihadist group, many Nigerians would contend that the violence is all part of a plan to drive Christians out of the northern region and turn it into a caliphate.
This ostensible ongoing quest has made terror an ever-present possibility. What should be a time of faith, family, and feasting has been contaminated by a sense of dread that something awful will happen again.
“Growing up in the North, I have seen how fear has become part of life for many Christians,” Samuel said. “It has always been there — this constant worry about when and where the next attack will happen. Sadly, it is not a matter of if but when.”
Samuel added that threats sometimes circulate but typically turn out to be false alarms. Most attacks occur without any threat or warning. Authorities have been ineffective at preventing them, and Samuel said the reasons for this are complex.
“Some security agents are corrupt and either allow the attacks to happen or even help the attackers,” he said. “On top of that, many Christians in the North believe that some politicians sponsor these attacks for religious or political reasons.”
The Nigerian government has launched air strikes on groups of suspected attackers. However, these strikes often seem misguided and tend to kill far more civilians than legitimate suspects. The actual attackers often elude punishment.
“Most attackers get away with it,” Samuel said. “Even when some are caught and jailed, their groups often break them out of prison. The government’s amnesty program doesn’t help either — attackers are reintegrated into society but often go back to continue killing innocent people. And honestly, the judicial system is a mess.”
Amid this stark portrait of dysfunction and injustice, the rest of the world hasn’t done much better at trying to mitigate — or even acknowledge — what has been taking place in Nigeria.
As of the end of 2024, Nigeria did not make the U.S. Department of State’s list of Countries of Particular Concern for violating religious freedom. The State Department also assigns several other nations the less severe designation of Special Watch List Countries. Comoros appears on this list, but Nigeria somehow does not earn a spot.
Its absence from these lists is especially curious when you consider that, of the 5,000 Christians killed worldwide for their faith in 2023, more than 80% of them were Nigerian.
Western media outlets will indeed report on the attacks in Nigeria. However, they tend to avoid the religious aspect, instead emphasizing ethnic tensions, general banditry, or farmer-herder conflicts exacerbated by climate change.
“Most of the violence is motivated by religion,” Samuel said. “There is a deep-seated hatred toward Christians in the North … It’s a deeply ingrained mindset.”
Samuel said he does not think Western media outlets are afraid to address the religious aspect of the attacks in Nigeria. Rather, he said, they simply don’t care.
“Western media is so secular, and they seem to dislike anything related to Christianity,” he added. “Even Western churches and Christians don’t seem to care … it feels like we are alone in this fight.”
During the next decade or two, Samuel expects the situation to worsen. He is truly worried for the ensuing Christian generations in his homeland.
“No one should have to go through what Christians in northern Nigeria face,” he said. “If anyone can help, the time to act is now.”
*Names have been changed for security reasons
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