Nigeria’s government at federal and state levels continues to tolerate attacks by non-state assailants who justify violence on religious grounds, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
“Islamist and some Fulani militant groups have expressed a goal of overthrowing secular governance with the intention of enforcing a singular interpretation of Islam,” stated the Aug. 9 report.
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‘Greatest security threat’
About 30,000 “Fulani bandits” operate in several groups in northwest Nigeria in groups of 10 to 1,000 members, engaging in “violence and banditry targeting predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria and generally pose the greatest security threat in northwest Nigeria,” the report stated.
Their crimes include kidnapping, rape, property and cattle theft, illegal possession of weapons and murder.
“The specific perpetrators of and motivation behind individual attacks can be difficult to verify,” USCIRF noted. “Regardless of motivation, however, attacks in the northwest, northeast and central regions of Nigeria significantly restrict freedom of religion or belief, particularly for the predominantly Christian communities that live there.”
In Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year. Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, according to the WWL. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.
Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
