For information about Orthodox Christianity in Nigeria, see here.
For previous coverage of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria from ChristianPersecution.com, see here.
“Nigerian bishop describes persecution and killings of Catholics: ‘It has become a daily occurrence,’” by Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency, June 19, 2023:
Nigerian bishop Wilfred Anagbe recently sat down with CNA in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ongoing persecution and killings of Catholics in his country, which has grown so much in recent years that, he said, “it has become a daily occurrence.”
Anagbe’s Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria’s Benue State has been among the communities hit hardest by the growing violent persecution.
This past Good Friday, dozens were killed when Muslim gunmen raided an elementary school building in the village of Ngban, which serves as a shelter for about 100 displaced Christian farmers and their families.
The April 7 attack left 43 people dead and more than 40 injured.
“If you see the video, you would just weep,” Anagbe said. “They came and they slaughtered all of them.”
“And [despite] all this happening there have been no arrests. The government is not prepared to take action about this,” he added….
Anagbe has been the bishop of Makurdi since 2015. During his time as bishop, Anagbe said he has seen a “full-blown realization of the Islamic agenda.”
Though the government has made claims that the situation has improved, groups such as the radical nomadic Fulani herdsmen and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a branch of ISIS, have only increased their attacks on Christians.
With Fulani tribesmen increasingly encroaching on Christian territory, not even regions that are majority Christian are safe.
According to Anagbe, Benue State has a population of about 6 million people who are “99% Christian.”
“I tell you, there is no Fulani man who is indigenous to Benue State, so they are coming as invaders or aggressors,” Anagbe said.
Since the start of 2022, there have been 140 attacks on Christians in Benue State, resulting in at least 591 slaughtered faithful, according to Anagbe.
Because of these attacks, Anagbe said that there are more than 1.5 million Christians in Benue State alone who have been displaced from their homes and villages.
Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic pastoral aid organization, has extensively documented the situation in its efforts to help. In many cases, men are brutally killed and women and children are raped and sent into captivity for the sole reason of being Christian.
Anagbe called claims that the violence in Nigeria is being caused by climate change “propaganda.”
“They say it’s about climate change; this is not true,” Anagbe said firmly. “In 1989 there was the Abuja Declaration that Nigeria should be established as an Islamic state; this is what we are seeing gradually now today.”…
