Over 70 Christians killed, 20 medical students kidnapped in recent Nigeria violence

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 20, 2024 / 12:29 pm

More than 70 Nigerian Christians were killed and another 20 Christian medical students were kidnapped in separate violent attacks in the southeastern Nigerian state of Benue over the past few weeks.

The attacks have renewed calls from religious freedom advocates that the United States Department of State (DOS) designate Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” placing it on a watchlist of countries responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.

The Nigerian newspaper The Sun reported that herdsmen, with the assistance of local bandits, attacked the predominantly Christian village of Ayati in the Ukum Local Government Area, killing at least 74 people on Aug. 8.

In recent years, the Christian areas of the region have been plagued by attacks from herdsmen who belong to the predominantly Muslim Fulani ethnic group, as well as attacks from Islamic insurgencies, such as Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West African Province. More than 50,000 Christians have been killed in the last decade and a half — including dozens of Catholic priests.

According to The Sun, herdsmen paid the bandits for access to the land to graze cattle. After the Christian villagers forced them to leave, the herdsman reportedly returned to the village to carry out the massacre. The article notes that the community is still searching for people who are missing and the death toll may be higher than currently reported.

In another incident that took place on Aug. 15, at least 20 Nigerian Medical Association students were kidnapped in Benue state while traveling to a conference organized by the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students in Enugu.

Benjamin Egbo, the secretary-general of the Nigerian Medical Association, sent a letter to the Nigeria Police Force, urging it to take action to “locate and rescue the abducted students.” 

“Given the urgency of this matter and the potential risks to the lives of these young students, we implore your officers to deploy all necessary resources to secure their immediate and safe return,” Egbo said. “[We are] deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of these future medical professionals, and we believe that swift and decisive action by the Nigeria Police Force is crucial at this time.”

Nathan Berkeley, a spokesperson for the Religious Freedom Institute, told CNA that Nigeria is “the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian” according to many observers. He noted the violence by bandits and herdsmen along with Islamist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West African Province.

“The figures for Nigeria in just the last few years are staggering,” Berkeley said. “In 2022, more than 5,000 Christians [were] killed and more than 3,000 kidnapped. In 2023, as many as 8,000 Nigerian Christians were killed. Nigerian Christians are also regularly subjected to bullying and intimidation, including having their land taken away to force them to leave the region.”

Despite these numbers, Berkeley added, “the U.S. government has refused to name Nigeria as a country of particular concern for religious freedom.”

Inaction from Department of State

Shortly before news of the most recent attacks on Christians became public, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) renewed its call for the DOS to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC) for systematic and ongoing religious freedom violations. 

“The [Nigerian] government … continues to tolerate egregious violence against religious groups by non-state actors …,” the USCIRF report states. “This violence affects large numbers of Christians and Muslims in several states across Nigeria and targets both religious sites and individuals from religious communities.”

According to the report, Christians continue to face persecution from non-state actors, such as Fulani militants and Islamic insurgents, which it asserts the government tolerates. It also notes that the Nigerian government imposes systematic restrictions on Christians through the enforcement of anti-blasphemy laws and Sharia criminal codes in the northern part of the country.

In January, the DOS released its list of nations that fit the criteria of a CPC — but Nigeria did not make the list. Rather, the report attributed the violence to “intercommunal clashes” and a competition for resources.

Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and former commissioner of the USCIRF, told CNA that the August attack “is just one example of a long pattern of horrific attacks against Christian farming communities by Fulani militants.”

“The shocking part is that after years of such attacks the government leadership in Abuja [the capital of Nigeria], who are both Muslims, passively sit by and allow this slaughter to continue with complete impunity,” Shea said.

“The goal of both the militants and Abuja seems to be the forcible Islamization of central Nigeria. Nigeria is the most dangerous place in the world today for Christians, who are being targeted for their faith,” Shea continued. “Scores of priests and pastors are being taken hostage from their homes and churches and held for ransom and there again the government fails to prosecute those responsible.”

Douglas Burton, the managing editor of Truth Nigeria and a former State Department official, told CNA that efforts to minimize these conflicts as “simply a resource war between farmers and herders” is “chiefly false,” adding that “it is a one-sided conflict.” 

“The Fulani militias are well armed and wealthy enough to hire mercenaries when they need to,” Burton said. “The defense groups called vigilantes are informal groups of farming people who defend against attacks with their pump-action shotguns. There are no roaming groups of Christian militia attacking Fulani villages in the dead of night.”

Burton said he believes the State Department’s refusal to designate Nigeria as a CPC is rooted in economic and material interests, essentially to “keep a cozy collaborative trade relationship between the United States and Nigeria.”