Christians Face Immense Persecution in Nigeria as Media Turns its Back in Silence

Elizabeth Cummings, NC - Editor-In-Chief

Since 2009, a staggering 52,000 Christians in Nigeria have been slaughtered, countless others forced from their homes, and separated from their families, and entire communities and churches have been burned down and destroyed. Yet as Nigeria has become the unquestionable center for Christian persecution in the world, the Western media, the Nigerian government, and politicians around the globe remain shockingly silent, continually refusing to acknowledge this massacre, dismissing these targeted attacks as part of a larger trend of violence and disorder.

According to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, this year, over 7,000 Christians have been explicitly targeted for their faith and murdered by Islamist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. That is almost triple the total of every other nation combined.​

Open Doors, an organization that tracks Christian persecution around the world, reports that in Nigeria, Christians are treated as second-class citizens. They have no protection from their government as Islamic militants bring destruction to their homes, churches, and livelihoods.

In September, Paul Ruth Musa, a Christian pastor in Nigeria, pleaded with the Nigerian government after Boko Haram kidnapped his wife, "Help us, we have been pleading and asking for help from them till today, and we have seen nothing… we have been forgotten. Why?"

Musa continued,  "Why does the government not care for us? Is it because we are Christians?"

Pastor Brad Brandon, founder and CEO of Across Nigeria, has been actively serving in the highly persecuted area since 2018. In a recent publication in The Christian Post, Brandon sought to call attention to these atrocities. He detailed the horrifying realities Christians live in under the strict Sharia Law enforced in over 12 northern Nigerian states.

Under these systems, being a Christian is punishable by death. Brandon shared a horrifying account in which a pregnant young woman who converted from Islam to Christianity was locked in a room by local enforcers until she delivered her baby. After the child was delivered, it was kidnapped and never seen again.

Having witnessed countless atrocities, Brandon does not hesitate to emphasize the critical and widespread nature of the persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria, claiming it is a clear genocide. A sentiment affirmed by the World Genocide Watch. He criticizes the American church for its silence on the issue.

Brandon's criticisms are well called for: while global persecution of Christians is at a modern high, it seems as if those in the West who claim to be champions of freedom of religion and liberty are seemingly unaware and lacking in conviction on the crisis.

Only recently, this issue has gained significant traction as US Senator Ted Cruz has called attention to this human rights tragedy and proposed legislation prompting US action.

Cruz said in a statement that "It is long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities, and my Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act uses new and existing tools to do exactly that."

The Trump administration broke its silence on the issue as Trump designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and called for legislatures to "immediately look into" the persecution of Christians.

Trump wrote in the statement that "the United States can not stand by while such atrocities are happening," he continued, "we stand ready, willing and able to save our great Christian population around the world."

International President of Christian Concern, Shawn Wright, said in a statement that he prays  "this designation will encourage other world leaders to follow suit and that it will lead to tangible actions that bring relief and lasting change for those suffering at the hands of violent extremists."

Following the President's statement, on November 14, the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect released a publication calling for the ICC's immediate request for authorization to launch a full investigation of the acts of violence and discrimination from both extremist groups and the local Nigerian governments.

​As the world finally notices this persecution, it is critical to acknowledge that the majority of the mainstream media did not break their silence on the issue until after the president's statement. Even still, these publications took an almost disturbing neutral tone, focusing on the President's response to the crisis rather than the persecution itself. The BBC published a piece under the heading "Are Christians being persecuted in Nigeria as Trump claims?," acknowledging the increased violence while simultaneously downplaying the religious motivations behind persecution. PBS published a similar article entitled "Trump says Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. Experts and residents say the reality is more complicated.”

The removal of political bias and partisan politics from an issue of humanitarian crisis and religious persecution is critical to ensuring that Pastor Musa’s sentiment does not remain true, that Christians facing persecution in Nigeria and around the world are not forgotten and overlooked by the global community. This is not an isolated crisis; it is a global moral failure sustained by ignorance and intentional silence.

Prominent United States pop culture figure and rapper Nicki Minaj took to the white house to express the reality that the media, political figures, and pastors across the country simply can’t seem to grasp: “This isn't about taking sides or dividing people… It's about standing up in the face of injustice".

This forces us to ask the same question of the media that pastor Musa asked of the Nigerian government: Is this issue being ignored because of partisan politics, which on its own is vile enough, or does it reflect a deeper unwillingness across the aisle to acknowledge the victims of Christian religious persecution around the world out of fear of criticism?

While those in the West turn a blind eye to this atrocity and the suffering of Christians in Nigeria, while they allow political divisions to dictate their condemnation of abject violence and horror, Christians in Nigeria remain enduring unimaginable persecution. Churches burn, entire families are killed, and still their pleas go unanswered. They continue to ask: “We have been forgotten. Why?" “Is it because we are Christians?"