Tag: Nigeria

A Global Uptick in the Muslim Slaughter of Christians

Raymond Ibrahim – June 13, 2022

Another day has passed, and another Muslim man has murdered another Coptic Christian in Egypt.

On Sunday, June 5, 2022 — the same day Muslims attacked a packed church in Nigeria, massacring more than 50 Christians — Abdullah Hosni, a Muslim man with a long history of harassing Christians, randomly attacked a Copt, Kirollos (Cyril) Megali, with a meat cleaver in a village in Sohag, Upper Egypt.

Kirollos, who was rushed to a hospital “drenched in blood and with multiple stab wounds,” spent three days in an intensive care unit before succumbing to his injuries, including hack wounds to his skull.

According to the deceased’s brother, Abdullah was locally known for harassing Christians. He had relocated to Libya for a time but returned two days before assaulting Kirollos. The latter himself had been working abroad (in Kuwait) and was visiting family when Abdullah knocked him off his motorbike and started hacking at him [keep reading for more on this story and for pictures].

A few weeks before this latest murder of a Coptic Christian at the hands of a Muslim in Egypt, another young Copt was murdered by a Muslim man — who later said he was moved to the act due to his “loyalty to Allah” — and Fr. Arsenius Wadid was stabbed to death in broad daylight by another knife wielding Muslim man.

Meanwhile, this sort of savagery that was once reserved for Muslim majority nations has come to the West. Turning to France alone, just the other day, a Muslim man stabbed a Christian man ten times in the throat — “in the name of Allah.” The murder occurred near a Catholic school, where the slain was picking up his children, aged 3 and 7; they witnessed the butchery of their father. A few days before that, also in France, three Muslim men tortured and slit the throat of a 70-year-old French woman in her retirement home.

And how have the “powers-that-be” responded? The UN recently inaugurated a “combat Islamophobia” day, and the European Parliament, after being petitioned to discuss the global persecution of Christians soon after a young Christian girl was stoned and burned to death in Nigeria, refused, saying there’s nothing to talk about. Two weeks later, Muslims shot up another church in Nigeria, killing more than 50.

https://pjmedia.com

Biden Admin. Slammed for Removing Nigeria from Religious Persecution List: Thousands of Christians Have Been Killed

Michael Foust – November 24, 2021

Religious liberty watchdogs are criticizing the Biden administration for removing Nigeria from an annual list of religious freedom violators, charging that it denies reality and is motivated solely by foreign policy interests.

At issue is an annual list released by the State Department that examines the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designates the worst violators as a “Country of Particular Concern,” which means they are guilty of “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

Nigeria was considered a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in the State Department reports of 2020 and 2019.

Yet Nigeria was missing in the State Department’s 2021 report, which was released last week.

The annual report is required under a 1998 law.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan panel that makes recommendations to the State Department, had urged since 2009 the inclusion of Nigeria as a CPC.

Christian groups and religious liberty watchdogs criticized the exclusion of Nigeria, saying thousands of Christians have been killed while the country’s security forces have refused to protect them.

“Removing this largely symbolic sign of concern is a brazen denial of reality and indicates that the U.S. intends to pursue its interests in western Africa through an alliance with Nigeria’s security elite, at the expense of Christians and other victims of widespread sectarian violence, especially in the country’s predominantly Christian Middle Belt region,” said John Eibner, president of Christian Solidarity International (CSI).

https://www.christianheadlines.com

The Jihadist Genocide of Christians in Nigeria Intensifies

Raymond Ibrahim – October 10, 2021

What several international observers have for years characterized as a “pure genocide” of Christians in Nigeria has reached new levels.

Since the Islamic insurgency began in earnest in July 2009 — first at the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization, and later by the Fulani, who are Muslim herdsmen also radicalized and motivated by jihadist ideology — more than 60,000 Christians have either been murdered or abducted during raids. The abducted Christians have never returned to their homes and their loved ones believe them to be dead. In addition, in the same time frame, approximately 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been torched and destroyed.

Some of these findings are documented in an August 4, 2021 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, also known as “Intersociety,” a nonprofit human rights organization based in Nigeria.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org

3,462 Christians Murdered in Nigeria in 2021: It’s the ‘Biggest Killing Ground of Christians’ in the World

Michael Foust – July 23, 2021

More than 3,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year by Muslim militants amidst a massive wave of persecution that also has resulted in 300 churches being threatened, attacked or destroyed, according to a new report.

The report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law says 3,462 Christians have been killed by Muslim militants in the first half of 2021 – a shocking number that is nearly as many as the 3,530 killed in all of 2020.

International Christian Concern cited the report this week and urged the world to take notice.

“Nigeria is the biggest killing ground of Christians today, but few are aware of it,” ICC said in a July 19 news release.

The Fulani Herdsmen – described as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world by ICC – is responsible for the majority (1,909) of murders, the report says. Boko Haram, ISWAP and Muslim Fulani Bandits killed a total of 1,063 Christians, the report added.

“Christian farming villages are repeatedly attacked in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, and tens of thousands have died over the last 20 years. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Christians have lost everything and are living as refugees,” ICC said.

The surviving victims often are not assisted or protected by the government from further harm, the report says.

“It is deeply saddening that till date those responsible for the anti-Christian butcheries in the country have continued to evade justice and remained unchecked, untracked, uninvestigated and untried; leading to impunity and repeat-atrocities,” the report says. “The surviving victims and families of the dead victims are also totally abandoned by the Government of Nigeria.”

An estimated 300 churches have been threatened, attacked, closed or destroyed this year, with at least 10 priests or pastors abducted or killed, the report said.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Monkeypox Case Confirmed in US

Newsmax – July 19, 2021

A case of monkeypox has been confirmed in an American who had recently traveled to Nigeria, U.S. health officials reported. Officials believe the threat of the virus spreading to others is low.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that’s in the same family of viruses as smallpox, but causes a milder infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes, then progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body. Most infections last 2-4 weeks.

The infected person is now hospitalized in Dallas, the CDC said.

Officials are working to contact airline passengers and others who may have come into contact with the patient during two flights: Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta on July 8, with arrival on July 9; and Atlanta to Dallas on July 9, the CDC said.

The passengers were required to wear masks on their flights and in the U.S. airports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s believed that the risk of spread of monkeypox is believed to be low, the CDC said in a news release.

The strain of monkeypox in this case is one that’s most commonly seen in parts of West Africa, and is fatal in about 1 in 100 people. But the risk can be higher in people with weakened immune systems.

https://www.newsmax.com

A ‘Killing Field’ of Christians: 8 More Killed, Church Burned to Ground in Nigeria – 1,470 Christians in 4 Months

CBN News – May 25, 2021

Eight Christians were killed and a church was burned down on May 19 during an attack by gunmen in the Chikun area of Kaduna State of Nigeria.

International Christian Concern (ICC), a persecution watchdog, reports Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, confirmed the report in a statement to the media.

Aruwan said “bandits” also burned down several homes during the attack, which consisted of unknown gunmen shooting sporadically at civilians.

As CBN News has reported, these “bandits” or “unknown gunmen” are often radical Muslims who target Christians in their relentless attacks on villages across the West African country.

In another unrelated incident, The Premium Times newspaper reports Nigerian Navy troops stationed in the Kujama General Area killed three bandits and arrested two accomplices after repelling an attack on Wakwodna community, near Kasso village, Chikun Local Government Area.

According to the Kaduna state government, the naval troops responded to reports of an attack on the village. The gunmen fled into the surrounding jungle when confronted by the troops, abandoning several rustled cattle. The cattle were rounded up by the troopers and returned to their owners.

“Two locals who were injured in the exchange were evacuated for medical attention,” Aruwan said.

According to the rights group Intersociety Rule of Law, 1,470 Christians were murdered and over 2,200 were abducted by radical Islamists in Nigeria during the first four months of 2021.

Of the 1,470 Christians murdered, 800 of those were killed by the Muslim Fulani Herdsmen, according to the group’s report.

https://www1.cbn.com

2,400 Nigerian Christians Were Hacked to Death in 2020: Report

John Paluska | January 7, 2021

Nigeria ended its year with a massive spike in terrorism. Jihadists in the country reportedly hacked 200 Christians to death illustrating what experts are calling a dangerous situation for Christians.

According to an end-of-year report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), a total of 2,400 Christians were hacked to death by Jihadists in Nigeria in 2020. This “further represents the same number of Christians hacked to death by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen in 2018 alone,” according to the report.

The 200 Christians attacked during the Christmas season by Muslim extremists was simply the penultimate expression of the status quo in Nigeria, the report stipulates. In that massacre alone, the report states that “the slain Christians included those abducted on religious grounds and likely to have been killed in captivity, including five abducted from Garkida (Adamawa) by ISWAP Jihadists on Christmas Eve and beheaded on 29th Dec 2020.”

Additionally, the report highlights that official statistics are unwilling to address the true nature of Christian persecution, where they claim it is “at least 60” Christians killed without providing a true upper limit, because it would show numbers much higher.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

‘The Next Jihad’: Evangelical leader, rabbi warn about ‘Christian genocide’ in Africa

Samuel Smith – November – 17, 2020

The rise of violent extremist groups throughout Africa, as well as the constant attacks against Christian communities in the continent’s most populated country, has religious leaders fearful that “the next jihad” is underway as world leaders seem to be rushing to address the problem.

“I know one thing has never really changed: No one gives a damn about Africa except for their natural resources or if there is going to be a big party because there is a peace treaty being signed,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, director of the global social action agenda of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization with over 400,000 family members.

“That’s just the truth and it’s a terrible truth. It might be one of the vestiges, frankly, of colonialism.”

Cooper teamed up with Rev. Johnnie Moore, a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, to author the new book The Next Jihad: Stop the Christian Genocide in Africa.

The book was written after the unlikely duo traveled together to Nigeria earlier this year to meet with dozens of Christian victims of terrorism from five different regions.

In recent years, Nigeria, the continent’s richest country, has dealt with the rise of Islamic terrorist groups in the northeast (Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province) and an increase of deadly attacks on farming communities carried out by militarized radicals from the Fulani herding community.

In the past few years, it’s been estimated that thousands of Christians have been killed while millions of Nigerians have been displaced from their communities. Some human rights groups have warned that attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria have reached the standard for genocide

https://www.christianpost.com

55 Million People Face Famine as COVID-Ravaged Economies Fail To Meet Funding Goals

Alan Macleod – October 14, 2020

More than 55 million people in seven countries are in desperate need of COVID-19-related famine relief. That is according to a new report from international charity Oxfam, entitled “Later will be too late.” The report details how 55.5 million people in seven countries — Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Somalia — are living in severe-to-extreme levels of food insecurity or even famine conditions, thanks largely to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the United Nations called for $10.3 billion in emergency funding to deal with the worldwide humanitarian impact the pandemic was expected to bring. Unfortunately, it has received barely a quarter of what it has asked for from donors. Every sector, including gender-based violence (58 percent funded), protection (27 percent), health (27 percent), and water, sanitation and hygiene (17 percent) are chronically under-funded. But the worst underwritten parts of its coronavirus response plan are food security (11 percent) and nutrition (3 percent). Indeed, in 5 of the 7 countries noted, the UN has received nothing at all to deal with the crisis. Oxfam called the international community’s response “dangerously inadequate.”

“The Committee for World Food Security must raise the alarm at the UN that famine is imminent on its watch and not enough is yet being done to stop it. We need a fairer and more sustainable food system that supports small scale producers. Years of neglect mean that millions upon millions of people remain unnecessarily vulnerable to shocks like COVID, climate change and conflict,” said Oxfam’s International interim Executive Director, Chema Vera.

Official estimates suggest that around 1.1 million people have died from COVID-19 globally since its emergence in China late last year. While the United States has seen the most cases and deaths overall, it is now countries in the global south that are the most intense hotbeds of the virus, with Brazil, Mexico, and India right behind the U.S. There are currently over 800,000 active cases in India alone.

https://www.mintpressnews.com

The Ignored Genocide of Christians in Nigeria

Raymond Ibrahim – August 19, 2020

The mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria, which some international observers have classified as genocide, is reaching unprecedented levels.

According to an August 4 report, at least 171 Christians were slaughtered by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in the space of roughly three weeks:

And these are only those we know of. In reality, the toll is likely to be far higher. Many thousands are also being displaced by the violence from homes and such livelihoods as they had left after covid lockdown brought economic havoc…. Our news desk has been swamped by such stories for many months, yet this relentless and bloody toll of Christian lives is disturbingly absent from wider mainstream media.

In one of the recent raids, on July 10, Muslim herdsmen massacred 22 Christians — “mostly women and children” — and torched many homes in a farming community. “The Fulani came in and were shooting,” recalled Bilkisu James from her hospital bed. “They killed two of my children [and husband].” They also “hacked another five of Bilkisu’s relatives to death with machetes including a mother and her baby daughter and a mother and her two sons.”

A Muslim neighbor had apparently exposed the Christian family to his invading coreligionists: “Before I was shot,” Bilkisu continued, “I saw the Fulani man who is my neighbour, he even identified me. I surrendered to him on my knees” — to no avail. They shot her in the chest and back and left her for dead, even as she “heard them light the match and set the house on fire.”

The next day, a neighboring village was raided: “ten women, a baby and an elderly man were burnt to death in a house where they had taken refuge. Another seven villagers were injured and four houses burnt out.” On July 19, people attending a wedding celebration were among at least 32 Christians massacred in Fulani attacks.

In a separate “horrific night attack during a torrential rain storm on 23 July, at least seven Christians died… as militants brutally hacked unarmed men and women and children to death with machetes.” The report adds that “This was the second attack on the village within days, with seven murdered in an attack days earlier on 20 July.”

On July 29, Muslim herdsmen murdered another 14 Christians — 13 of whom belonged to one extended family. Only one member of the family remained alive; his wife, all his children, aunt, uncle, brother, and other relatives were slaughtered.

Most recently, armed jihadis stormed the Lion of Judah Church in Azikoro and opened fire on worshippers; four Christians were killed.

https://www.frontpagemag.com