Christian communities throughout Nigeria have been completely destroyed by Islamic terrorists, according to interviews with persecuted Christians conducted by religious liberty advocates.
The interviews were included in a report released Sunday by Open Doors International, a religious freedom advocacy group, which found that thousands of Christians have been killed and displaced in Nigeria in increasing numbers since 2020. Open Doors interviewed hundreds of persecuted Christians, many of whom were sheltering in camps throughout the country.
“Extremist violence across parts of Nigeria over the last decade has resulted in mass displacement of Christian communities, amongst others,” the report said. “They have been singled out for violence, face harsh living conditions and experience faith-based challenges throughout their displacement journey. Nigerian state security personnel regularly failed to respond in a timely or effective manner to violent attacks against Christians.”
The violence has been primarily taking place in the northern states of Borno and Plateau, where there are lots of Islamic militants and violent Fulani herdsmen. About 2.7 times more Christians are killed in violent attacks than Muslims with at least 16,769 Christians being killed from October 2019 to September 2023. Christians are also the disproportionate victims of kidnappings.
For the report, Open Doors interviewed 292 Christians and humanitarian workers from January to April 2024 about their experiences with the persecution. Interviewees were primarily Christians who had been displaced within the country, with some workers from humanitarian agencies also interviewed.
One Christian displaced from Borno said that all the churches in the area of Gwoza were burned to the ground.
“Now, all the churches in Gwoza have been destroyed by Boko Haram, and many of the Christians have fled and are living as IDPs in different locations,” the interviewee said. “Since the attacks and the destruction of churches in Gwoza, I have not returned, and the churches are still in their deplorable state since their destruction.”
Another Christian said that the Christian population of another area in Borno had been completely replaced.
“I think for Goshe even during the time of displacement most of the community members were Christians,” the interviewee said. “But now the resettled members are almost ninety percent Muslims in the place I went to. It used to be a Christian community, but now it is a Muslim community.”
Other interviewees said that they struggled to defend themselves from attacks because they were armed with only a few small guns while their attackers had more sophisticated weaponry.
One of the main groups behind the attacks is Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group that has targeted Christians for years.
“Boko Haram target people that are working with the church, maybe you have a position like Secretary or you have any position in church, you are a target. In every community they have a list of people they are looking for,” an interviewee said.
If they survive the attacks on their villages, then the Christians also face struggles finding food and shelter. Many of the camps for displaced people discriminate against Christians and do not give aid to those with Christian names. Many people also refuse to rent out property to Christians.
Open Doors CEO Ryan Brown told Fox News on Tuesday that much of the world was ignoring the violence against Christians in Nigeria.
“The rest of the world seems to be turning a blind eye,” he said. “People are not talking about it. People are not aware of the realities, and therefore people aren’t doing anything about it.”
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