Last month, Fr Charles Onomhoale Igechi was murdered in Benin, less than a year after his ordination, the latest in a succession of Nigerian Catholics who have been killed by Islamist radicals for their faith: 39 priests were killed in the country last year and a further 30 were abducted. Nigeria is, according to Aid to the Church in Need, the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. The same month marked the anniversary of the terrible Pentecost massacre of 41 people and the injuring of a further 80 during Mass in St Francis Xavier’s Church in Owe, south-west Nigeria. The massacre had all the hallmarks of Islamic State West Africa Province, which targets Christians. So far none of the attackers has been brought to justice and the trail has gone cold.
But there are several similar Islamist groups with the same objective, most notoriously Boko Haram, whose members include militant Fulani herdsmen who seek to dominate and extirpate Christians through terrorism. As Bishop Jude Arogundade, who came to London to appeal to the British government for help, observed, the targets of these groups include Muslims who do not conform to their understanding of Islam, as well as Christians, but it is Christians who bear the brunt of their attacks. Yet it is difficult for Christian leaders to convince ministers of the sectarian character of these attacks; it is easier, as Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins did, to identify the Fulani as “pastoral peoples who are among the foremost victims of the consequences of climate change”. Certainly global warming is one reason why those herdsmen seek new territories, and sectarianism is exacerbated by ethnic and economic factors, but the reality is that Nigerian Christians are being persecuted to death precisely because of their faith.
The British government’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, Fiona Bruce MP, does heroic work in highlighting the issue of religious persecution, but in the case of Nigeria, far more pressure should be brought to bear on its government to prevent sectarian murders and bring perpetrators to justice. The US government has, extraordinarily, removed Nigeria from the State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern – it was included in 2020 in part because of the serious violations of religious freedom and ethno-religious violence. Why, in the wake of the Owe massacre and the continuing murders and abductions of Christians, did the State Department do so?
President Biden makes much of his Catholicism; it would be a positive expression of his faith if he were to insist that the US do more for the protection of Nigeria’s persecuted Christians.
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