Over the past 15 years, the country has witnessed more than 150,000 deaths attributed to Islamic extremists, according to Intersociety’s latest report shared with The Epoch Times.
The figure places Nigeria behind only Syria, ravaged by civil war since 2011 with more than 306,000 civilian deaths.
The “Silent Genocide,” primarily targeting Christians, includes the destruction of more than 18,500 churches, according to the report.
The past 13 months were the bloodiest, with more than 8,222 Christians killed, it states. Fulani jihadists were responsible for at least 6,700 Christian deaths, while Boko Haram and allied insurgent groups accounted for 500 deaths.
A large West African ethnic group, the Fulani, makes up some of Nigeria’s most powerful political elites. However, terrorists identifying as members have been accused of killing six times more Christians than Boko Haram, according to the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust Foundation, a UK-based charity.
The remaining 1,000 deaths were by “Islamic-inspired” government security forces.
Despite this record, the U.S. State Department did not label Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in its 2023 International Religious Freedom Reports.
The Biden administration thus ignored the recommendation of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom seeking to redesignate Nigeria.
According to Intersociety’s records, Nigerian Christian massacres soared by more than 15 percent from a total of 4,650 deaths reported by Open Doors International the previous year.
The attacks steadily rose throughout 2023 with more than 8,000 deaths, Intersociety Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi told The Epoch Times. At least 200 more deaths were recorded in January 2024, making it the bloodiest 13 months in Nigeria’s history, according to Mr. Umeagbalasi.
“[Nigeria’s] presence in the CPC list did affect the conduct of the government toward human rights,” Mr. Murray wrote.
“The Nigerian government has allowed widespread murder and violence by failing to act and protect victims and prosecute Islamist terrorists,” said Mr. Smith, who chairs the House Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee.
“On Christmas Eve, over 300 Christians were killed in targeted attacks, yet none of the perpetrators has been brought to justice.
“It’s unacceptable that Nigerian President [Bola] Tinubu, inaugurated in May 2023, has not even acknowledged the religious motivations behind these attacks.”
A 3-Year-Old Sole Survivor
Terrorists carried out simultaneous attacks in more than 30 villages south of Jos starting on Dec. 23, 2023, killing hundreds of Christian residents, according to Church leaders speaking to The Epoch Times.More than 19,000 people were displaced in the attacks concentrated in Bokkos County, according to the Rev. Stephen Baba Panya, vice president of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
Among the victims was 3-year-old Purity Panmun Danat, a sole survivor who witnessed her family’s slaughter. Her father, her mother, her three brothers, and a sister were all killed on the first night of the attacks, when their village, Kambar-Pelli, was attacked.
Within the same compound, her uncle was slain with his wife and three children.
Daily attacks
Mr. Tinubu recently approved the establishment of an army barrack to restore order in the region. But attacks continued up to the night of Feb. 11, raising concerns about the government’s sincerity.“It is concerning that attacks are still going on despite the presence of security forces in this local government,” Monday Kassah, chairman of Bokkos County, told The Epoch Times.
“No day passes by without one incident or the other.”
Mr. Kassah commended the Republican-led House for addressing the attacks.
There is no guarantee that the House resolution will be immediately adopted, but its consideration might be the only hope for the suffering victims, Mr. Murray wrote.
“It is obvious that placing Nigeria back on the CPC list would force the government once again to address the persecution of Christians and Shia Muslims,” he wrote.
In the UK, lawmakers applauded the U.S. House resolution.
“For over a decade, there have been false narratives: attributing Boko Haram attacks and killings in north-eastern Nigeria to poverty and the unfolding genocide in the middle belt region to climate change.
“Therefore, the killings have persisted because there is not a political will to identify the radical ideologies fueling the massacres and to respond appropriately.”
Sen. Diket Plang, a member of Mr. Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) Party, disagreed that the CPC label would stop attacks in Nigeria.
“I don’t know how external influence has helped us,” Mr. Plang, who represents a district in Plateau State, told The Epoch Times.
“No matter the external contributions, if we don’t agree to trust ourselves and be our brothers’ keepers, whatever they do will be cosmetic.
“Even if we bring in a force of soldiers to maintain peace, that will be temporary if we don’t remove hatred and distrust from our hearts.”
His colleague at the Nigerian House of Representatives James Lalu has a contrary opinion.
“In Plateau State, there are different tribes, and we know ourselves. And we are not fighting ourselves. Anybody fighting for land or anything is a visitor and a common enemy to all of us,” Mr. Lalu, a member of the APC who represents Mangu and Bokkos counties, told The Epoch Times.
“It is time for the U.S. and other Western governments to come and intervene and stop these killings.”
‘Pure Genocide’
“I cannot deny that there are farmer/herder clashes in Nigeria,” Rev. Panya said. “But those are predominantly in the northwest region—Zamfara, Katsina especially.“In the middle belt region, what is happening is pure genocide. It is religiously motivated—to annihilate and take over communities for Islam.
“They launch attacks with assault rifles and machine guns, with bombs and grenades, and they slaughter people in their sleep. And in all of these attacks, Christians are the targets.
“Where there are mosques, they don’t touch them. But where there are churches, they burn them to the ground. So how is this a ‘clash?’”
