HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has denounced what it calls the persistent but provocative and insensitive claims by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu denying the existence of a genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists just as HURIWA queried what the benefit is there for the Nigerian leader to often defend Islamic terrorists of Boko haram and ISWAP whose central mantra is the destruction of Christian faith and the destruction of Churches of Christians in Nigeria.
“Mr. President, where were you when leaders of boko haram terrorists and ISWAP publicly announced that their aim and objective is the destruction of the Christian faith and these Islamic terrorists have followed up their public announcements posted on media of mass communication with hundreds of successful attacks of churches and the kidnappings and murders of Christian pastors and worshippers. Even as we speak, the DSS controlled by the President as the Head of state, is prosecuting some ISWAP terrorists that bombed the Catholic church in Owo Ondo state and over 60 worshippers were murdered. So what is the Nigerian President talking about for denying something so obvious that even the blind can see that there are targeted killings of Christians by terrorists in Nigeria. “
Besides, HURIWA has applauded the US Congressional facts finding delegation that spent quality times in different parts of Nigeria to ascertain the factual claims of the existence of genocide of Christians especially in the Northern Nigerian states of Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna states just as the Rights group described the visit as reassuring and positive.
HURIWA recalled that the United States congressional delegation, led by Congressman Riley Moore has concluded its fact-finding mission to Nigeria over alleged genocide and is expected to brief President Donald Trump before the end of the month.
The delegation, made up of five members of Congress, arrived in the country on Sunday, penultimate week, and visited Internally Displaced Persons, survivors of terrorist attacks, Christian communities, Christian leaders and traditional rulers, particularly in Benue State.
They also held a meeting with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
HURIWA recalled that featuring on a Fox News programme anchored by Harris Faulkner on Thursday, Moore said the team heard harrowing accounts of killings allegedly carried out by Fulani and Islamic extremists, describing the experience as the most disturbing of his career.
“It was really shocking — the stories we heard, the imagery. I have never witnessed anything like that in my life,” he said. “I met one woman who lost her entire family. Five of her children were murdered right in front of her while she was pregnant. She escaped and delivered her baby in an IDP camp. You can see that her soul has literally left her body. There are countless stories like these.”
He also narrated another case of a woman who lost her husband, two daughters, and her unborn child during an attack, saying the pattern of violence suggested that Christian communities were deliberately targeted.
Moore said the delegation travelled across Benue State in armoured vehicles due to security risks, adding that they met Catholic and Protestant leaders, bishops and community heads to obtain what he called “ground truth”.
“This is a fact finding mission. Benue is one of the most dangerous states in Nigeria. This is where the majority of Christians are being murdered for their faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But I felt we had to go,” he said.
According to him, IDP camps were not spared by attackers, raising questions about claims that the violence was driven by climate pressures or land disputes.
“For those who say this is about climate change or economics, why would you burn down a church? Why would you attack an IDP camp screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’? It is very clear what the answer is,” he said. “They are trying to erase Christians in Benue State and across Nigeria from their ancestral homeland.”
HURIWA carpeted President Tinubu for continuously but vexatiously denying the existence of genocide targeting Christians in Nigeria even when Americans visited and confirmed that they have concrete evidence of these brutal killings specifically targeting Christians just as we wonder whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working for the citizens or against the citizens.
HURIWA recalled with sadness and absolute disgust that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has for the umpteenth time at the weekend insisted that there is neither Christian genocide nor Muslim genocide in Nigeria.
Tinubu said this while declaring open the Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society (NASFAT) 8th Biennial Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abuja yesterday.
The theme of the conference was “Building Resilience in a Changing World: The Role of Faith and Community”.
Represented by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, the President said that what the country had was terrorism, driven by criminality and extremism.
He said that the Federal Government was working tirelessly to overcome the security challenges.
Tinubu said, “in recent times, the Federal Government and other persons of goodwill, had to address unfounded allegations.
“The allegations are not only false, but harmful, and capable of inflaming passions and disrupting the sustenance of the peaceful coexistence which we continue to build as a nation.
“Nigeria’s response was clear, firm, and measured. We reaffirmed that our nation does not foster or tolerate policies or actions aimed at persecuting any religious group,” he said.
According to him, security challenges are rooted in historical, economic and criminal issues, not religious issues.
HURIWA disagreed with President Tinubu and demanded that he respects the memories of the thousands of Christians killed by Boko Haram jihadists, ISWAP and Fulani terrorists just as HURIWA queried why President Tinubu thinks the statistics showing the high numbers of chritian clerics and Christians killed by Islamists were just mere numbers and not human beings whose blood were shed illegally by terrorists without the government keeping up to its legal obligation to prevent these genocidal killings.
HIRIWA insisted that verifiable reports show that violence against Catholic priests in Nigeria continues to increase, especially in the eastern part of the country. According to a report by the NGO International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), published in August and updated this week, at least 15 priests were kidnapped between January and September alone.
Besides, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), at least 145 priests have been kidnapped, 11 have been murdered, and four remain missing since 2015. However, Intersociety claims the reality is much worse. According to its counts, at least 250 Catholic clergy have been attacked in addition to another 350 clergy from other denominations.
Coffins of the victims of the Ondo Catholic Church massacre, June 2022.
The phenomenon, according to the report, is due to a combination of attacks by jihadist groups and organized criminal gangs operating for profit. Priests have been victims of both violent ambushes and financial extortion.
“Many were kidnapped for ransoms reaching tens of millions of nairas [Nigreian currency] or thousands of dollars. In other cases, the attackers sought to seize luxury vehicles belonging to the clerics to sell them to criminal networks,” Intersociety details in the report.
One of the most recent cases is that of Father Wilfred Ezemba, parish priest at St. Paul’s in Agaliga-Efabo (Kogi state) who was kidnapped on Sept. 12 along with other travelers by suspected jihadists and released on Sept. 16.
3 churches devastated every day in Nigeria
Furthermore, the report estimates that from the Boko Haram uprising in July 2009 to September of this year, 19,100 Christian churches in Nigeria have been destroyed, looted, or violently closed, representing an average of 1,200 churches per year, 100 per month, or more than three per day.
The violence has affected both Catholic churches and the so-called “white-garment churches” belonging to the Organization of African Instituted Churches as well as other Christian denominations.
Mass exodus: Nearly 15 million people displaced
The persecution of Christians in Nigeria has also led to a mass exodus: At least 15 million people have been displaced, forced to abandon their villages, ancestral homes, and churches to flee the massacres.
Intersociety also highlights in the report that personnel from special units of the Nigerian army and police, along with their commanders, are allegedly involved in kidnappings, murders, and forced disappearances of pastors of various Christian denominations.
