(Photo credit: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)
A new report has revealed that Islamic jihadists murdered at least 1,470 Christians and abducted over 2,200 in Nigeria in the first four months of 2021.
Released by Intersociety Rule of Law, a Nigerian civil society group, the report observed that the number of Christians murdered within the time period mentioned above is the highest since 2014, and goes beyond the total number of Christians killed in 2019.
The report notes that the Nigerian government “falsely claims” that the high number of murders and abductions this year in the West Africa country can be attributed mostly to “herder-farmer clashes” and not due to religious motives.
Northwestern Kaduna state recorded the highest number of Christian deaths, at 300. The north-central Benue state witnessed 200 murders of Christ-followers, while the central Plateau state recorded 90 Christian deaths.
The northern Muslim-controlled Nigerian Army also killed at least 120 Christians in the states of Benue, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi, the report adds.
Of the 2,200 Christians abducted, Kaduna state recorded the highest number with 800 abductions. Out of these 800 Christians abducted, 600 were indigenous Christians, “including those abducted in Muslim-held areas of Birnin-Gwari, Igabi and Giwa Local Government Areas.”
Niger state recorded the second largest number of Christian abductees, at 300.
Nigeria’s federal government and the governments of the affected states “have made several deliberate attempts to cover the egregious and grisly massacre of Christians in Nigeria by falsely labeling them as ‘herders-farmers clashes,’ or attacks by ‘bandits,’ or ‘killings that cut across Muslims and Christians,” says the report.
The Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria as the third-most affected country by terrorism and reported over 22,000 deaths by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.
The U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom’s 2021 report warned that Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Christian genocide” if action is not taken.
Islamic extremism, particularly in northeast Nigeria, has led to thousands of deaths and millions displaced in recent years.
Nigeria was the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for engaging in “tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
News Agencies contributed to this report.
