Persecution of Christians in Nigeria continues to increase rapidly — but massacres such as this one of the student Ropvil Daciya Dalep rarely make news outside that country.
Nigeria is about 50% Christian. Of those Christians, around 75% are Protestant, 24% Roman Catholic. Of the remaining 1%, there is a small Orthodox Christian community. These Christians are being subjected to a ruthless persecution that has gone on with sporadic attacks for years, and has been escalating recently. Targeting the Christians are both the Islamic militant group Boko Haram and Muslim Fulani herdsmen. The Order requests once again that the UN and the US State Department address the persecution of Nigerian Christians, and move the Nigerian government to take decisive action against Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen for the protection of its Christian citizens.
For previous coverage of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria at ChristianPersecution.com, see here.
“Nigeria: Child terrorist executes Christian student,” CSW, January 23, 2020:
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has released a video showing the execution on 20 January of a 22 year-old Christian student from Plateau State, Nigeria, by a minor.
Ropvil Daciya Dalep from Jing village in Pankshin Local Government Area (LGA), Plateau state, studied biology at the University of Maiduguri. He was abducted on 9 January on the outskirts of the Borno State capital along with 20 year-old zoology student Lilian Daniel Gyang, also from Plateau State. Both were returning to university following the Christmas holiday. A third person who was abducted with them was later released.
The video shows Mr Dalep kneeling as a masked child stands behind him brandishing a pistol. Prior to shooting him the child, who began by chanting in Arabic before speaking in Hausa, claims that Mr Dalep’s execution is in revenge for “bloodshed”, allegedly by Christians. The boy says: “In particular, this is one among the Christians from Plateau State. We are saying to Christians, we have not forgotten what you have done to our parents and ancestors and we are telling all Christians around the world, we have not forgotten and will not stop. We must avenge the bloodshed that has been done like this one…”
This is the second video released by ISWAP that has linked executions with both the faith and the state of origin of its victims. In a video released on 22 September 2019 terrorists wielding AK- 47s described the beheadings of Christian humanitarian aid workers Lawrence Dacighir and Gedfrey Ali Shikagham as the beginning of “revenge on Christians in Plateau state.” They alleged that Christians from the state “kill our women and children and eat their meat.” Both men were from Plateau state, and were members of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)….
