ICC Note: Nigerian women are suffering greatly from the Islamic terrorist attacks that take place in their country. When their husbands are killed in the violence, they are left completely alone to care for their children without any means to do so. Typically, their homes and farms have also been destroyed in the violence that takes the lives of their husbands, leaving them with no resources to provide for themselves and their surviving children. They are often even abandoned by their extended family after the death of their husbands. Many of these women contract sicknesses from the stress that can lead to their death, and some lose their sanity struggling to cope with the grief and despair. Many of these women that are suffering so are Christians because the various terrorist groups target Christian communities and Christians also face discrimination and marginalization in many areas of Nigeria where Islam is treated as the state religion.

08/03/2016, Nigeria (WorldWatch Monitor) – Forty-something Agnes, from Benue state in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, was married to university lecturer John while still young; the couple had nine children.

One morning in 2008 Agnes rose to hear repeated shouts of “Allahu Akbar [Allah is the greatest]!”

“When you hear that, you know something [terrible] is going to happen,” Agnes told World Watch Monitor.

Extremist Muslims surrounded her neighbourhood. The couple joined others as they tried to flee, but they suddenly found themselves deep in the heart of a Muslim-dominated area.

A man forced Agnes and the younger children into a building; John and their two eldest sons remained outside. Before entering, Agnes saw John and one son being stabbed to death.

“They hit my husband on the head and stabbed him in the side. I witnessed it. As soon as they stabbed them, I closed my eyes and called on Jesus. I couldn’t help myself.”

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