As I’ve written about before (here, here and here), Nigeria is not the best place on the planet to be Christian these days. The latest atrocity ~ Armed gangs WIPE OUT 15 villages in mass Christian slaughter in Nigeria ~

Dozens of people have been killed after the gangs ransacked towns and villages to clear them of all aspects of the Christian faith.
 
Houses belonging to believers have also been razed with authorities doing little to help, an anti-persecution watchdog claimed.
 
Open Doors spoke to one Christian who described the broad daylight attack carried out by a group of Fulani – one of Africa’s largest ethnicities.
 
A spokeswoman said: “One attack took place in broad daylight, as people were about to go to church. The assailants chased and killed the villagers and burned down nine churches and many more houses.” […]
 
The shocked witness said Christians needed more protection from the country’s leader or lives would continue to be lost.
 
They said: “Despite several calls to the governor and his deputy, and other security apparatus, the government remained silent as the atrocities continued.
 
“The Fulani were able to carry out their deadly attack. They stayed for hours in the vicinity, moving at will, unchallenged.”

Why does this genocide continue mostly unchecked? Short answer: Nigeria is a Muslim-majority country (Stage-Two Jihad); three years ago they elected Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim with alleged ties to Boko Haram. (Incidentally, the evil David Axelrod was instrumental in smearing the country’s previous president and getting Buhar elected. And BHO probably helped.) ~

A spokeswoman for Open Doors said: “Believers experience discrimination and exclusion, and violence from militant Islamic groups, resulting in the loss of property, land, livelihood, physical injury or death; this is spreading southwards.
 
“Corruption has enfeebled the state and made it ill-equipped to protect Christians. Rivalry between ethnic groups and raids by Fulani herdsmen compound the persecution. Converts face rejection from their Muslim families and pressure to recant.”

 
Open Doors ranks the country #14 on their list of countries with the highest levels of Christian persecution ~

In the southern part of Nigeria, Christians experience religious freedom. However, in the northern and Middle Belt regions, they suffer from violence perpetrated by Islamic militant groups. Death, physical injury and loss of property are commonplace, as well as loss of land and livelihood. In northern Nigeria, society as a whole treats Christians as second-class citizens who deserve to be discriminated against and excluded. Christians from Muslim backgrounds also face persecution from their own families who reject and pressure them to renounce Christianity. To make matters worse, corruption has made the government ill-equipped to protect Christians from violent attack.

Reuters reported on a small bit of good news today ~ Nigeria rescues 76 schoolgirls after Boko Haram attack, others missing ~

BAUCHI, Nigeria, Feb 21 (Reuters) – The Nigerian military rescued 76 schoolgirls and recovered the bodies of two others on Wednesday, after the students went missing during a Boko Haram attack on a village, three parents, a resident and a local government official told Reuters.
 
“Everybody is celebrating their coming with songs and praises to God almighty,” said Babagana Umar, one of the parents whose daughter had disappeared. “The only sad news is that two girls were dead and no explanation.”

 
Much too little too late – but better than nothing (or at least better than launching aid raids on innocent villagers [see below]!).
Please pray for the Christians in Nigeria.

 
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Related:
Why Don’t We Care About the Slaughter of Nigerian Christians? ~ from Michael Brown ~

For the last several months, a good friend and Christian missionary serving the poorest of the poor in Nigeria has been sending me emails with terrifying news. Fulani tribesmen raping and killing villagers. Children being used as Islamic suicide bombers, resulting in scores of casualties. One horrible report after another.
 
Yet with each email I received, as I scoured the major news agencies in the West, I found nothing reported. Not a word.

 
Buhari Goes After Pastor Over Comment On Herdsmen; Nigeria Arrests Cameroon Activists; Ethiopians… ~ Video that plainly shows how Nigerian President Buhari is on the wrong side of this genocide.
 
Nigerian bishops accuse government of failing to protect citizens from ‘terrorist’ herdsmen (Feb. 9, 2018) ~ A delegation of 11 bishops delivered a strongly worded message on behalf of the Nigerian bishops’ conference during a meeting on Feb. 8th

These attacks “have led to a near civil war situation in many parts of the country”, they asserted.
 
Attacks attributed to Fulani herdsmen on the properties of agriculturalists in the country’s Middle Belt have become increasingly common in recent years.
 
However, observers have voiced concern that in recent months, the assailants have been armed with AK47s and other expensive weaponry, rather than just machetes, suggesting that they are receiving external funding. […]
 

The bishops went on: “Innocent citizens in different communities across the nation are brutally attacked and their sources of livelihood mindlessly destroyed.
 
“Property, worth billions of Naira, including places of worship, schools, hospitals and business enterprises, are torched and turned to ashes.
 
“We are still more saddened by the recent massacre of unarmed citizens by these terrorists in some communities […]
 
Yet they said “the government, whose responsibility it is to protect the life and property of every citizen, seems either incapable or unwilling to do this. The silence of the federal government … is, to say the least, shocking”.

Nigeria: 75 killed in renewed Fulani attacks on Christian community in Plateau (Feb. 6, 2018)
 
Nigerian Air Force complicit in massacre of Christian villagers, says Amnesty (Feb. 2, 2018) ~

Fighter jets sent by the Nigerian Air Force fired rockets at villages where Fulani herdsmen were attacking Christian residents, according to a report released this week by Amnesty International […]
 
Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said: “Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone’s standard. Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect.”

 
New IS branch discovered in Nigeria, as UK archbishop calls for end to violence (Jan. 25, 2018)