Violence Against Christians Escalating Beyond Control in Nigeria, as Death Toll Nearly Doubles Again

The death toll for Christians in Nigeria is beyond grim – IT’S APOCALYPTIC.

We must take action now or they will all be killed.

Remember just two months ago when we reported that the number of innocent Christians murdered by Islamic radicals in Nigeria had almost doubled from 350 to roughly 620 in a matter of a couple months?

At the time, we told you that we had delivered a critical written submission to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in which we warned:

At the current rate, nearly 1,500 innocent Christian men, women, and even children could be needlessly slaughtered this year just because of their Christian faith.

Now those words seem prophetic. According to unfathomable new reports, the number of murdered Christians has practically doubled again.

As rights groups continue to voice concern about “genocidal” crimes being committed in Nigeria, the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law has released a new report stating that no fewer than 1,202 Christians were killed between January and June 2020.

Over 1,200 Christians have been mercilessly slaughtered in the first six months of 2020 by violent Islamic jihadists. There is no question this is a human rights crisis that is quickly escalating beyond control.

As the article goes on to say:

According to the report, the majority of Intersociety’s estimated 1,202 Christian death toll through the first six months of 2020 comes mostly from the 812 killings committed by members of the predominantly Muslim Fulani herding community who have been radicalized to carry out attacks against predominantly Christian farming communities in the farming-rich Middle Belt States.

Additionally, 390 Christian deaths were attributed to killings committed by radical Islamic groups in the northeast, like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, in addition to other perpetrators such as armed bandits.

Based on these grim numbers, the prior prediction of reaching 1,500 deaths by year’s end seems sadly conservative. At this rate, over 2,000 believers – men, women, even children – could be brutally executed because of their faith. And if the murder rate continues to double every two months, it could be astronomically high by year’s end.

These are our brothers and sisters through Christ.  We have a moral obligation to defend them.

And this report doesn’t even take into account the number of Nigerian Christians who are abducted and held as slaves by Islamic radicals each year. We continue to fight for the freedom of Leah Sharibu, the Christian teen who we recently told you turned 17 as the prisoner of Boko Haram – the brutal Nigerian militia that has sworn its loyalty to ISIS – because she won’t convert to Islam. It was the third birthday she’s spent as a captive of the barbaric terrorists, and still the Nigerian government has done little to aid in her release.

In our recent written submission to the UNHRC, we also urgently advocated for international intervention to save Leah, before it’s too late.

As our submission stated:

Children within Nigeria are particularly vulnerable. According to UNICEF, atrocities carried out by Boko Haram and other jihadist groups have orphaned nearly 60,000 children, and forced 1.4 million children from their homes. Furthermore, according to another recent report by UNICEF, “In northeastern Nigeria, abduction of children is a frequent occurrence. Since 2013, over 1,000 children have suffered this fate at the hands of Boko Haram.”

The entire world should be outraged. Nigerian Christians should be able to live and worship as they please without the very real fear of violence and death. These terrorists must be captured and brought to justice.

The deadly violence against Christians is already spreading into neighboring African regions like  wildfire.  If swift action isn’t taken immediately, it may soon be too late to put it out. IT HAS TO STOP NOW.

We will continue raising the alarm for these persecuted Christians across the globe and at the U.N., but we need you to be their voice. Sign our petition demanding protection for Christians being slaughtered all across Nigeria.