Special Feature: Christians in Nigeria

Your support has enabled us to see many breakthroughs over the years. These successes, small and large, fuel faith and are a source of encouragement and joy. Yet the challenge is to maintain hope and continue praying and campaigning when things are deteriorating. This is the situation in northern and central Nigeria, where, despite years of praying and campaigning, the Church is under increasing attack.

The Church in the north and middle belt of Nigeria is experiencing a season of intense persecution. In most northern shari’a states Christians are treated as second-class citizens, discriminated against in education, employment, and other aspects of public life. They cannot compete in certain elections or buy land to construct churches, and some remote communities are pressured to convert in order to receive wells or other amenities.

The death toll in terrorist attacks is rising. Between January and April 2018, Fulani herder militiamen claimed over 900 lives in predominantly Christian farming areas in six states, displacing hundreds of thousands. No perpetrators have been arrested, let alone tried, and beyond occasional condemnations, the government has done little to end the violence. And although the Boko Haram terrorist group has split, both factions continue to mount attacks and abduct women and children of all creeds. The devastation is astonishing: in 2017 Nigeria was third on the Global Terrorism Index ranking of countries most severely” impacted by terrorism.

Leah’s story

The individual stories are particularly gripping. As we go to print, CSW is campaigning for the release of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu. Leah was one of 110 girls abducted from their school in Yobe State by Boko Haram in February.

A month later, as the girls boarded trucks to return home following negotiations with the government, the terrorists told Leah – the only Christian – that she would not be released unless she converted. Her friends begged her to pretend to convert so they could all leave together, but Leah refused, even after the terrorist’s commander said she’d be killed. She was forced to get out of the truck and watch as her friends were driven to safety. It was a moment of extraordinary courage and integrity. Leah’s father Nathan later said, “I am very sad…but I’m also jubilating too because my daughter did not denounce Christ.” Rev Yunusa Nmadu, CEO of CSW- Nigeria, added that through her actions Leah had already defeated Boko Haram.

Remembering Francis

In the midst of these challenges, the CSW family suffered a major loss. On 3 June Francis Iliya Bakut, CSW’s Director of Advocacy, Training and Research in Nigeria, and National Youth President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, collapsed at the pulpit while addressing a youth convention, and died hours later. A gifted and courageous man, he was only in his thirties. In the final weeks of his life Francis travelled to three remote communities, visiting the leader of an area regularly attacked by herder militia, and commissioning boreholes. People in one of these areas, Unguwar Gaiya, had been denied clean water because of their religion, forcing them to source water that caused illness and infection. In a letter addressed to CSW Nigeria they said, “You have made a borehole of clean water that has made us well again.” Francis’s loss is a huge blow to his wife Mary, to Rev Nmadu, for whom Francis was both a close friend and a trusted colleague, and all in CSW.

More than conquerors

When Rev Nmadu spoke at our Pursue Justice Live event in April, he emphasised the need for the Church worldwide and the international community to realise what is really occurring in his country: “The Nigerian Church is a church going through severe trial. The world needs to be clear about the extent of persecution and the need for legal redress, so that terrorists and criminals will not triumph, and in order that the Church that is being crushed will not be ‘destroyed.’”

Afterwards he spent two intense weeks meeting parliamentarians and Foreign Office officials, outlining these realities and calling for action. There have already been results: Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP blogged about Leah and the abductions of Christian girls; Leah and Rev Nmadu were referenced in a parliamentary debate; and several MPs joined our #FreeLeah Twitter action marking her 15th birthday.

Rev Nmadu ended his Pursue Justice Live talk with these words: “These are the realities we face. They are extremely daunting in the natural. Nevertheless, we remain confident in prayer that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.”

As the killings continue, we must not give in to discouragement and its accompanying inertia. CSW will continue to stand with Christians in northern Nigeria, raising awareness of their plight. We will continue to highlight the realities, calling for urgent interventions to end the bloodshed, and for the law to be enforced impartially. And we urge you to persevere with us in prayer and action until peace with justice becomes a reality.