Nigeria the most dangerous place to be a Christian? Let’s put that in context

Boko Haram’s activities, while horrific, are not aimed at only one religion. We must beware of statistics creating a simplistic picture of faraway events

This week a report produced by the Christian charity Open Doors announced that North Korea was the overall worst place to be a Christian but that Nigeria was the most dangerous – accounting for more than half the 7,000 recorded killings

As a human being weary of what seems like an increasingly volatile and violent world I am dismayed by these statistics, but as a Christian living in Nigeria, I am surprised by them.

Living in Abuja, the quiet capital in the north, the most danger I face is from oncoming traffic as I drive to church on Sunday mornings. Roads are closed and one-way streets are converted into dual carriageways with no police supervision, but it’s the faithful who create that problem.

Christians flee growing persecution in Africa and Middle East
This is not to diminish the threat posed by Boko Haram, which Open Doors credits with some of the persecution Nigeria’s Christians face (the rest it attributes to “Hausa-Fulani herdsmen”). Sometimes, when rumours of an imminent attack increase, Abuja’s roads are closed off and marked with security checkpoints, and some of us sitting in services warily eye newcomers. A thin layer of foreboding hovers over the congregation.

That can happen. But it is not the norm in my experience of being Christian and Nigerian. Mostly what I contend with is how to make sense of the various versions of my faith being peddled by local pastors, and the consistently humorous ways Bible verses are tweaked to fit into daily colloquialisms. Reading that “millions of Christians escaped countries such as Nigeria” leaves me wondering what I’m missing as I go about my daily and mostly unencumbered life here.

Yes, religious persecution is real and growing, in Nigeria as well as globally – but not just of Christians. It is important that we acknowledge and continue to track this, but we must also consider the nuances and context.

Nigeria has a new government, but Boko Haram is deadlier than ever | Chika Unigwe
According to the Pew Research Center, Nigeria, with more than 80 million Christians, has the largest Christian population on the African continent, most of whom reside in the south and south-eastern regions of the country. Yet the report says that “there were more recorded killings of Christians due to their faith in northern Nigeria than in the rest of the world put together”. The reasons for these deaths, according to the charity, is “religious cleansing to eradicate Christianity”.


Boko Haram is a violent Islamic extremist group that, in part, fights what it sees as western ideologies and replaces them with its own belief system. But that doesn’t make Christians the sole target of its terrorist activity. As has been written elsewhere: “Boko Haram is a rapidly changing, complex and fragmented movement. It is anti-democracy, anti-secularism, and anti-establishment.” Most of Nigeria’s followers of Islam do not adhere to their beliefs or principles, and Boko Haram’s activities, concentrated in north-eastern Nigeria – and now spreading to Chad and Cameroon – has largely affected Muslim communities. It is too simplistic to think of Boko Haram as simply being anti-Christian.

There is no denying the reality of religious persecution throughout the world. It certainly happens here in Nigeria. But the bare statistics don’t communicate the full socioeconomic and political context. If we oversimplify the story of death and destruction happening far away, we risk desensitising and distancing people, which is the exact opposite of what reports such as Open Doors’ set out to do.

OP you're correct

OP is biased and sentimental. As a Christian your duty isn't to go about spreading lies and preaching hatred but love. The basis of Christ's teachings.

The fulani remains One the deadliest group in the world,rendering many homeless into the IDPS under the cloak of a federal character

God is always in control of everything.......

true

The Northern elites intimidates the southern part, emboldened by UK govt, who happens to be a Christian nation. Such is life

And you chose to live in Abuja while making such statements... Maybe we'll wait and hear from the man from southern kaduna and North East before we conclude.

MarrisManah:
And you chose to live in Abuja while making such statements... Maybe we'll wait and hear from the man from southern kaduna and North East before we conclude.

Lol

I will live and die a Christian, nobody will stop me

Yenefer:
Lol

Are you now a Christian?

A mistake happened in 1914 and here we are today.. Kindly check my signature

Mrs Eunice Olawale was killed in Abuja by a whole mosque, men,women, children,imam, Alfa, alhaji, etc no one can stop the killing, In Kano a 74 old woman, Mrs Bridget Agbahime was killed like a chicken for stopping Muslim from doing ablution in front of her shop, no one was prosecuted or responsible for both killing.

chatinent:
Who really is a Christian?

Somebody that performs miracles, collect first salary of people, collects 10% of people's earnings and scares people with hell fire as if their fathers have been there before

slivertongue:
I will live and die a Christian, nobody will stop me

Has any Muslim ever preached to you?

Johnjanrt:
OP is biased and sentimental. As a Christian your duty isn't to go about spreading lies and preaching hatred but love. The basis of Christ's teachings.

. And as a Muslim ur duty is to do oppsite of this nonsense you wrote

Any death of a xtian that happens in whatever ways in a non-xtian populated region or country is automatically included in their nonsense list.
Meanwhile xtian Latin America alone with less than 9% of worlds population accounts for half of the worlds murders.

The title above should be rephrased as, Northern Nigeria, a dangerous place to be a Christian.

And that change in my opinion shouldn't be necessitated by the actions of Boko Haram, but by the mostly unreported high discrimination against Christians in the core North.

There's an unspoken law that Christianity is outcast in the North.

I remember when I served in the North many many years ago, any Muslim who converted to Christianity had to flee the core North to middle belt states like Plateau that had over 99% Christian population.

This is a statement of fact.

There's always a death threat hanging over would be converts from Islam to Christ in the North.i won't even mention the discrimination against Christians in the civil service and government appointments.

Christians were arrested for eating in public during the Muslim fast during the last Ramadan fast prior to this one.

Christians are not allowed to take alcohol even when they have proof that they are Christians.

Yet the northern governors operating shari'a would say that the shari'a law doesn't apply to non-muslims.

Bullshit.

Somebody said Christianity is a outcast in the core north. Please, what is Islam in the South east?

You don't know nothing.

What is the name of the author. That's what's missing in the article..

Yenefer:
Nigeria the most dangerous place to be a Christian? Let’s put that in context

Boko Haram’s activities, while horrific, are not aimed at only one religion. We must beware of statistics creating a simplistic picture of faraway events

This week a report produced by the Christian charity Open Doors announced that North Korea was the overall worst place to be a Christian but that Nigeria was the most dangerous – accounting for more than half the 7,000 recorded killings

As a human being weary of what seems like an increasingly volatile and violent world I am dismayed by these statistics, but as a Christian living in Nigeria, I am surprised by them.

Living in Abuja, the quiet capital in the north, the most danger I face is from oncoming traffic as I drive to church on Sunday mornings. Roads are closed and one-way streets are converted into dual carriageways with no police supervision, but it’s the faithful who create that problem.

Christians flee growing persecution in Africa and Middle East
This is not to diminish the threat posed by Boko Haram, which Open Doors credits with some of the persecution Nigeria’s Christians face (the rest it attributes to “Hausa-Fulani herdsmen”). Sometimes, when rumours of an imminent attack increase, Abuja’s roads are closed off and marked with security checkpoints, and some of us sitting in services warily eye newcomers. A thin layer of foreboding hovers over the congregation.

That can happen. But it is not the norm in my experience of being Christian and Nigerian. Mostly what I contend with is how to make sense of the various versions of my faith being peddled by local pastors, and the consistently humorous ways Bible verses are tweaked to fit into daily colloquialisms. Reading that “millions of Christians escaped countries such as Nigeria” leaves me wondering what I’m missing as I go about my daily and mostly unencumbered life here.

Yes, religious persecution is real and growing, in Nigeria as well as globally – but not just of Christians. It is important that we acknowledge and continue to track this, but we must also consider the nuances and context.

Nigeria has a new government, but Boko Haram is deadlier than ever | Chika Unigwe
According to the Pew Research Center, Nigeria, with more than 80 million Christians, has the largest Christian population on the African continent, most of whom reside in the south and south-eastern regions of the country. Yet the report says that “there were more recorded killings of Christians due to their faith in northern Nigeria than in the rest of the world put together”. The reasons for these deaths, according to the charity, is “religious cleansing to eradicate Christianity”.


Boko Haram is a violent Islamic extremist group that, in part, fights what it sees as western ideologies and replaces them with its own belief system. But that doesn’t make Christians the sole target of its terrorist activity. As has been written elsewhere: “Boko Haram is a rapidly changing, complex and fragmented movement. It is anti-democracy, anti-secularism, and anti-establishment.” Most of Nigeria’s followers of Islam do not adhere to their beliefs or principles, and Boko Haram’s activities, concentrated in north-eastern Nigeria – and now spreading to Chad and Cameroon – has largely affected Muslim communities. It is too simplistic to think of Boko Haram as simply being anti-Christian.

There is no denying the reality of religious persecution throughout the world. It certainly happens here in Nigeria. But the bare statistics don’t communicate the full socioeconomic and political context. If we oversimplify the story of death and destruction happening far away, we risk desensitising and distancing people, which is the exact opposite of what reports such as Open Doors’ set out to do.

I don't know where you exhumed this load of crap from but you need it stick it right back in your skinny ass.
Why don't you go to chibok and dapchi and enlighten them about the equal opportunity policy of BH.
You can also go to s. Kd and inform them that herdsmen are non-discriminatory. People are complaining of being murdered in their sleep by religious foot soldiers and you're telling us it's just the weather. I keep saying it, every Muslim who writes to normalise BH activities is a terrorist by default.

Northern Christians are just stupid ...for over 100 years someone has been killing you and u have done nothing ...why not learn from jukun tribe ....shabi it's fulanis that always complaining of killing by jukun

JAMO84:
Somebody said Christianity is a outcast in the core north. Please, what is Islam in the South east?

How many Muslims have been murdered in the south east? Terrorist

tatatar:
Any death of a xtian that happens in whatever ways in a non-xtian populated country is automatically included in their nonsense list.
Meanwhile xtian Latin America alone with less than 9% of worlds population accounts for half of the worlds murders.

You have finish work.

Agboriotejoye:


I don't know where you exhumed this load of crap from but you need it stick it right back in your skinny ass.
Why don't you go to chibok and dapchi and enlighten them about the equal opportunity policy of BH.
You can also go to s. Kd and inform them that herdsmen are non-discriminatory. People are complaining of being murdered in their sleep by religious foot soldiers and you're telling us it's just the weather. I keep saying it, every Muslim who writes to normalise BH activities is a terrorist by default.

Are u high or drunk

Yenefer:
Are u high or drunk

Maybe you are. Presumably on Muhammad's piss you licked while slamming your head on the floor

StreetFight:


Somebody that performs miracles, collect first salary of people, collects 10% of people's earnings and scares people with hell fire as if their fathers have been there before

Who really is a Muslim?

This Boko Haram applogist on the loose again??