Statistics compiled by Amnesty International show that there is a culture of stigmatization and victim-blaming towards rape survivors in Nigeria. The result is a large percentage of rape and sexual assaults going unreported. One man is trying to change all that by helping others after experiencing abuse himself as a child.
Read MoreViolence by Islamic extremist groups such as Fulani militants, Boko Haram and Islamic State in West African Province increased during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, putting Nigeria at the epicenter of targeted violence against the church. The West African nation of 226 million is divided evenly between Christians and Muslims.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nigerian Christians have been slaughtered in the tens of thousands by Nigerian Muslims. When press coverage hasn’t been M.I.A., it’s resorted to a lazy “climate change” explanation. Not even the Biden administration seems to care.
Read MoreWater scarcity is a big problem in many communities around the world due to a combination of factors. Some of them have exacerbated the problem, including population growth, urbanization, increase in demand of water and climate change. A Catholic group in Nigeria is working to change that.
Read More(OPINION) The world has lost a witness to the counter-narrative of love and service that are possible between people of different races with the death of my friend David Jowitt. Professor of English at the University of Jos in Plateau State in Nigeria, he was the last British person in the university system there.
Read MoreThousands of internally displaced Nigerians are currently being kept in camps that are not habitable. But the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria, a local nongovernmental organization, is providing support to victims of attacks in the country.
Read More(OPINION) Members of religious minorities — especially Ahmadi Muslims, Sufis, Baha’is and converts to Christianity — may be accused of fomenting “sectarian strife,” spreading “misinformation,” “insulting a heavenly religion” or threatening “national security.” In regions controlled by Sunni Islam, rival Shia Muslims may face similar accusations, with that equation being reversed in lands controlled by Shia clerics, such as Iran.
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(OPINION) The future journalist was both shocked and inspired by her contact with Christians caught in that land's toxic climate of paramilitary warfare, drug trafficking and kidnappings. She struggled to grasp how someone like pilot Russell Martin Stendal, after years held for ransom, could forgive his kidnappers and then start a missionary effort to convert them.
Read More(PERSONAL ESSAY) It was as if I faced what we call in development economics a “false paradigm.” A few days before leaving my home country, every stop I took at a bank around my place of residence as well as at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, I felt I was wrongly advised by the forex department to not carry cash on hand for safety precautions. They, however, did not perceive the current naira scarcity saga that has affected millions of Nigerians — Christians, churches, nonbelievers, the rich and the poor.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Tragic reports about the killing of Nigerian Christians have become all too common. And the recent account of a Catholic priest being shot and burned alive in his church just before Christmas was particularly gruesome — in that same incident, 40 worshippers, including children, also lost their lives.
Read MoreThis week U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced a list of countries that the U.S. government considers “countries of particular concern” for religious freedom violations. Nigeria is notably absent, despite attacks so frequent that many Christian ministries have stopped serving some rural communities.
Read MoreZannah Mustapha quit his job as a Shariah court lawyer in the mid-2000s to establish an orphanage for kids whose lives have been tragically altered by Boko Haram attacks. Today, he oversees the education of more than 2,000 orphaned students.
Read More(OPINION) On Pentecost Sunday in Owo, Nigeria, a horrifying massacre took place at St. Francis Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the St. Francis church massacre is only the latest outrageous account of anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria. There have been countless others.
Read More(OPINION) For weeks, a shocked world has been transfixed by Russia’s murderous invasion of Ukraine. Yet, at the same time in another part of the world, brutal violence against similar innocents has not only continued for years but has dramatically increased in the past few months.
Read More(OPINION) Nigeria’s de-listing was seen by numerous informed observers as an outrageous betrayal of an already brutalized Christian community. The decision ignored years of well documented murders and mutilations, death squads, torched villages and farmlands and devastated homeless refugees.
Read MoreAt the height of Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests against police brutality and corrupt governance last October, young people of different faiths, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds united in street demonstrations with prayers and songs. One year later, those connections are still growing, and churches are still praying.
Read MoreFor many decades, Nigeria's Muslim north has been prone to religious intolerance and violence. Kaduna, where over 20,000 people have died in different religious conflicts since the 1980s, is one of the country's most volatile states. It’s also the hub of interfaith mediation groups working to prevent violence, including a pastor and imam who used to lead violence against each other’s groups, and the region’s first women-led mediation council founded by an Irish Catholic sister.
Read More(OPINION) Catholics in Nigeria had buried many priests and believers killed in their country's brutal wars over land, cattle, honor and religion. But this was the first time Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese had preached at the funeral of a seminarian. A suspect in the crime said 18-year-old Michael Nnadi died urging his attackers to repent and forsake their evil ways.
Read MoreWeeks after the abduction and subsequent release of a high-ranking church official in Nigeria, faith leaders and police investigators are still scratching their heads as they try to understand what the kidnappers wanted.
Read MoreBoko Haram terrorists attacked Christian communities in Northeastern Nigeria on Christmas Eve, burning down many churches and homes. One reverend who refused to convert to Islam was beheaded.
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