Life has become increasingly difficult for Christians in Nigeria, as persecution continues to rise and an average of ten Christians are dying for their faith every day. 91 million Christians live in Africa’s most populous nation, but many of them face consistent harassment and violence from Muslim extremists.
As a Baptist church member tried to fight off an armed Muslim Fulani herdsman in a village in north-central Nigeria, he told his 7-year-old nephew and other relatives to run.
Fulani radicals killed thirteen people, including three children in West Africa’s Middle Belt on Monday.
Muslim Fulani herdsmen continued a campaign of seizing land for their cattle and territory for their religion this week, killing 11 Christians in eastern Nigeria’s Taraba state, sources said.
Muslim Fulani herdsmen on Monday (June 17) killed four Christians in north-central Nigeria’s Kaduna state, including three children, on the same day nine other Christians were slain in neighboring Plateau state, area sources said.
Recently, a group of Muslims visited Christian widows and orphans in northwestern Nigeria and donated food, clothing and school items as part of efforts to enhance peaceful coexistence among different faiths.
Gunmen suspected to be local Fulani Muslims killed several Christians as they made their way home from church services in Jos, Nigeria on Sunday (May 26) following the murder of another area Christian last week, sources said.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed a church choir practice and kidnapped 17 Christians in north-central Nigeria the night of May 18, and the same night gunmen killed a Christian and kidnapped two others at a Baptist church, sources said.
A pastor, his daughter, and more than a dozen churchgoers were kidnapped in an attack by a team of gunmen in the Kaduna state of Nigeria on Sunday that left one person dead.
A pastor, Christian relief worker and members of Living Faith Church have been kidnapped by alleged members of Boko Haram two weeks ago in Borno State.
