ICC Note: 

It is shocking that in just one region, so many Christians could have been slaughtered and  displaced; or have that many churches destroyed. It is hard to fathom, that our Christian brothers and sisters  daily risk their lives just to claim Christ as savior and gather to  worship Him.  As a nation, Nigeria should mourn the havoc Islamic extremists have created and unite to end it. Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen have strategically targeted Christian communities and relentlessly attacked  them in their attempt to wipe out Christianity from belt Nigeria.  Since its conception, Christianity has spread in the midst of harsh persecution.  Let us not be misled to believe that Christians being killed by the hundreds,  and being fed to the lions is a chapter in Roman history.  It is happening still, there are brothers and sisters still in the lion’s den; the den of Boko Haram and Fulani Islamic terrorists. 

11/1/2016 Nigeria (World Watch Monitor) – Nigeria’s Middle Belt is the scene of ever-continuing attacks on Christian farmers by mainly Muslim Hausa-Fulani herdsmen, including this past week where attacks have occurred in both Kaduna and Benue states. Now a recent report about another state in the Middle Belt, Nasarawa, shows that it too has been the scene of serious violence against Christians. In the period January 2013–May 2016, 826 Christians were killed and 878 injured. There were 102 churches destroyed or damaged.

Beside these, 787 houses were destroyed, as well as nine shops, and 32 motorised vehicles. Many families were completely deprived of their livelihoods. Around 21,000 Christians were reported as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in different camps inside and outside Nasarawa. Due to the difficult security situation, the authors of the in-depth fact-finding report are convinced that they were only able to report part of what really happened.

Their Nigeria Conflict and Security Analysis Network (NCSAN) report shows that Nasarawa has been engulfed in various forms of conflict since its creation in 1996. Many researchers, policy makers and government officials have explained the conflict in terms of politics, ethnicity and economic contestation over land and resources. In most cases, the religious component of the conflict has been completely downplayed, marginalised, excluded or neglected.

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