Blog - Nigeria Report

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press releases · 27. July 2022

Joint Petition about Nigeria to UN Special Advisor for Genocide Prevention Goes Unanswered

On 21 June, 14 NGOs submitted a confidential petition about Nigeria to the UN Special Advisor for Genocide Prevention. Five weeks later, the Office of the Secretary General still

Inside the Catholic Church where worshippers were murdered in cold blood

NOTICE: This article contains disturbing photos and graphic descriptions of violence. On 5 June 2022, scores of people were murdered by gunmen at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, deep in Nigeria's normally-peaceful Southwest. Amaka Okoye visits the site of the Owo Pentecost Massacre, and speaks with victims, eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack. They recount the incident with vivid horror.

In Bauchi State, another blasphemy allegation leads to violence

Just over a week after the brutal murder of a Christian college student in Sokoto, Muslim residents attacked Christians in Katanga, Bauchi state. As in Deborah Samuel’s case, locals accused a female Christian health worker, Rhoda Ya’u, of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed, following a comment she made in a government employee WhatsApp group. According to witnesses, the accusation prompted more than 200 teenagers, led by a few adults, to gather to attack Ya'u.

Msgr Ike: “A crime worse than Bucha is taking place in Nigeria”

By Franklyne Ogbunwezeh The persecution of Christians and the demographic displacement of minorities in the Middle Belt of Nigeria has taken on genocidal dimensions and is “a crime worse than that carried out in the town of Bucha in Ukraine”. This was the observation of Professor Obiora Ike, a Geneva-based Nigerian human rights activist and executive director of the global ethics network Globethics.net, who is presently on a working visit to the Middle Belt of Nigeria.

WATCH: Franklyne Ogbunwezeh and Joel Veldkamp discuss Deborah's killing

On May 12, Deborah Yakubu, a Christian university student in Sokoto, Nigeria, was lynched after she was accused of blasphemy. The videos of her murder have shocked Nigeria. Franklyne Ogbunwezeh, CSI's Senior Research Fellow for Africa, spoke with Joel Veldkamp about the murder, and what it means for the future of Christians in Nigeria.

Christian Student Murdered by Mob in Northern Nigeria

A Nigerian Christian student was murdered on her university campus yesterday by a mob of Muslim students who accused her of blaspheming Islam. Two videos posted online show the aftermath of the killing. In one, a half dozen men beat Deborah’s lifeless body with sticks while they shout “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). A second video shows her body burning while her killers boast about killing her.

Thousands displaced as Fulani militants kill 21 Christians in central Nigeria

By Masara Kim, reporting from Jos Thousands of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region are currently homeless following a daylight attack by Muslim militants on 26 April, which killed at least 21 people. According to local sources, dozens of armed men in multiple groups stormed four farming towns on the boundaries of Kaduna and Plateau States at about 4pm local time, shooting and burning houses. Ezekiel Isa, a resident of one of the towns in southeastern Kauru Local Government Area of...

Three killed as Fulani militants ambush newly elected Christian lawmaker in Nigeria's Plateau State

Two people have been reported killed after armed men believed to be Fulani militiamen ambushed the convoy of Musa Agah, a newly-elected member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, last night at 9 pm. Muslim clerics publicly charged followers to vote for Muslim candidates prior to the elections. At the time, leaders of the local Christian tribes had reported that more than 24,000 of their members displaced from 16 towns risked disenfranchisement.

Nigerian pastor shot in the face while rebuilding family house destroyed by jihadists

On 6 April, Pastor Samson Boyi was on the site rebuilding his family house. More than ten others were also there, joyfully raising their houses. But few minutes after 3 o’clock, six armed men arrived on motorcycles and opened fire.

New Report: Terror and Mass Displacement in Nigeria's Middle Belt

Three human rights organisations – Christian Solidarity International (CSI), Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), and the International Organisation for Peacebuilding and Social Justice (PSJ) - have released a new joint report about the situation in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. The report, entitled “Breaking Point in Central Nigeria? Terror and Mass Displacement in the Middle Belt,” was based on a joint visit to Nigeria, led by Baroness Caroline Cox, in late February-early March of this year.