Victims of post-election violence at a hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria, in April. Muslim rioters burned homes, churches and police stations after Nigeria’s Christian president beat out his closest Muslim opponent. (AP Images/Sunday Alamba) |
International
Christian Concern has learned that members of a radical Islamic
group, Boko Haram, killed at least ten Christians in Maiduguri, Nigeria
over the past two months in what a Christian leader is calling a “silent
killing” of Christians.
In an interview with ICC, an anonymous local church leader explained: “Boko
Haram is seeking to eliminate Christianity because they want Islamic
(Sharia) law. They don’t want to see anything Christian in the northern
states [of Nigeria]. That is why churches are being persecuted and
Muslims who don’t follow the [hardline teachings of] Boko Haram are also
persecuted.”
Boko
Haram is close to achieving its goal of eliminating Christianity from
Maiduguri. Most of the Christians have fled the city in fear of further
attacks by the Islamists. Of the churches that remain, some have felt
compelled to suspend their services to protect their congregations.
The
Nigerian government, who has also been attacked by Boko Haram, deployed
security forces to quell the violence, but came under sharp criticism
from human rights groups for excessive use of force and the
indiscriminate killing of civilians. The government of Nigeria has now
established a committee to investigate the members of Boko Haram and
look into the reasons for the violence.
The
church leader told ICC that the few Christians who remain in the city
are praying and fasting for God’s intervention. When asked what
Christians could do to help, the church leader said: “They can pray
for their fellow Christian brothers and sisters in Maiduguri. [We also]
ask for assistance in the rebuilding of churches that have been burned
down since 2006. The government has not compensated for the loss of
Christians, but it has compensated for losses that Muslims suffered [at
the hands of radical Islamists].”
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, said: “We
welcome the deployment of the Nigerian security forces to protect
innocent civilians from the attacks by Boko Haram. We also welcome the
establishment of the committee to investigate Boko Haram. We call upon
the committee to look into the plight of the victims and ensure that the
perpetrators of the violence are brought to justice.”
