“Is the Nigerian government complicit in these attacks?’ Time will tell, but for this long time watcher, the decision is in.” The Christians of Nigeria are suffering from a ruthless persecution that has continued with sporadic attacks for years, and has been escalating recently. We have noted in connection with accounts of persecution from several nations that the hardships that Christians must endure is often exacerbated by the sympathy of government and law enforcement officials not for the victims, but for the perpetrators.
For information about Orthodox Christianity in Nigeria, see here.
For previous coverage of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria from ChristianPersecution.com, see here.
“Insurgents Attack ‘Center of Christianity’ in Nigerian State,” International Christian Concern, March 21, 2022:
03/21/2022 (International Christian Concern) – More than 20 people were killed as Christian communities were under heavy attack in a Southern Kaduna city in Nigeria on Sunday night.
Community members had just finished their church worship when armed insurgents arrived with sophisticated weapons, an eyewitness reported.
“Agban Kagoro is under heavy gunshot attacks with sporadic gunshots, burning down of houses in Adan, Mararaba, and Tsonje,” one witness told International Christian Concern (ICC). “Twenty-five people were killed and over 100 houses burnt.” He added that the evening attack occurred from 7 to 10 p.m. without the intervention of the Nigerian army. The total number of casualties was yet to be released.
District Head Joshua Kokaya confirmed that more than 20 people were killed and many houses were burned to the ground….
Southern Kaduna, like many areas throughout Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, is facing incessant attacks by insurgents, mostly identified as Fulani militants, Boko Haram, and its offshoot, Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).
“Please pray for Kagoro right now,” said an ICC source. “Militant herdsmen have entered Kagoro near the seminary, killing and burning the houses. Even the soldiers have run away because the attackers’ guns are superior to theirs. We are very much concerned for Kagoro, the center of Christianity in Southern Kaduna.”
Eleven people were sent to the hospital for gunshot wounds. One died shortly after admittance, and another in critical condition was referred to the Jos University Teaching Hospital for special care, witnesses said….
“Christian communities in the Middle Belt of Nigeria have effectively suffered a 20-year long genocide,” said ICC President Jeff King. “Where is any action? The Nigerian government gives these attacks lip service without any meaningful response. Where is the outcry? Where is effective action? In Nigeria, the military, the police, and the intelligence agencies are all controlled by Muslims. This coupled with a 20-year lack of response by these agencies should naturally lead to deeper questioning by the world community. Simply put, the time for cheap talk and platitudes is over. The world is waking up and starting to ask, ‘Is the Nigerian government complicit in these attacks?’ Time will tell, but for this long time watcher, the decision is in.”
