Nigeria and endless anti-Christian Persecution (The Commonwealth)
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The one continuity of modern Nigeria is endless anti-Christian persecution. This concerns the mainly Muslim north and the central areas of this country where Christian and Muslim ethnic groups overlap, in the Plateau belt region.
The Commonwealth is meant to be a group of nations that support ethnic and religious freedoms and where the rule of law is a central theme – along with a democratic system. However, for Christians in Nigeria, Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, religious minorities in Pakistan, and others (Christian women paraded naked in Manipur in India), it is a Commonwealth of nations where religious and ethnic hatred thrives (along with gender discrimination).
In Nigeria, Christians are being killed by various Muslim forces – from Islamist terrorist groups to ethnic massacres by the Fulani aimed at Christians. The only consistency in Nigeria is that fresh massacres will follow – and the international media will downplay the crisis by taking the “anti-Christian” element out.
The National Catholic Register reports, “More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country worldwide — at least 4,650 in 2021, and nearly 900 in the first three months of 2022 alone.”
Vatican News reports, “Christians risk their lives not only at the hands of Boko Haram, but also of ethnic Fulani Muslim herders who have joined Islamist extremist groups… The attacks have led to mass forcible displacement. About 5 million Christians have been displaced and forced into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps within Nigeria and refugee camps at regional and sub-regional borders…”
Early 2023 began just like other recent years in Nigeria. One of utter barbarity aimed at the Christian community in Nigeria. This concerns the burning alive of Father Isaac Achi.
The Catholic News Agency reports, “The body of Father Isaac Achi was found among the charred parish building of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Jan. 15, according to the Catholic Diocese of Minna, Nigeria.”
Since then countless massacres have happened against the Christian community – irrespective if committed by Boko Haram, ISIS (IS- Islamic State), the Muslim Fulani, and others who utilize Islam -including Bello Turji loyalists.
The Commonwealth of Nations must do more to address the crisis in Nigeria – similar to acknowledging the plight of Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, the ongoing crisis in Manipur in India, and other areas neglected concerning religious and ethnic persecution in several Commonwealth nations.
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