Nigeria Jihadists Have Forced 4m-5m Christians To Flee & Destroyed 2000 Churches In 57 Months

Ceaseless killing of Christians in Nigeria particularly since June 2015 and burning or destruction of their churches and other worship centers followed incessant attacks against them by Boko Haram/ISWAP, Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and a branch of Boko Haram, called “Bandits/Highway Kidnappers” who engage in roadway abductions and armed robbery and house to house looting; all for purpose of radical propagation of Islam and raising of ‘blood funds’ for themselves and advancement of their terror activities.

Generally, the number of indigenous Northern Christians forced to flee their ancestral homes, farmlands and sacred places of worship so as to escape being hacked to death or face forceful conversion to Islam and concomitant sexual violence or enslavement had sharply risen from “over 1.3m in 2014” (Open Doors Report 2015) to between 4m and 5m. The affected population had fled the country or relocated to some less risky capital cities in Northern Nigeria or cities and communities in the Southeast, South-south and Southwest parts of the country. The educated among them have become the “urban refugees”.

The total number of Jihadist Herdsmen and Boko Haram generated internally displaced persons and refugees in Northern Nigeria-mostly Christians, are presently estimated at over 3m, rising from 2.6m as at 2017. Among the refugees are some ’90,000 Christian dominated Nigerian refugees (from Borno’s Gwoza alone) presently in Cameroon. Joined in fleeing the Islamic jihad affected parts of the North are sizeable number of Igbo Christian population resident in the areas, but now resettled in the Southeast and the South-south parts of the country.

The number of churches and other Christian worship centers destroyed or burnt since June 2015 in the North has also risen to over 2000, out of which Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen account for over 1500 while Boko Haram accounts for 500 others. Of the churches destroyed or burnt by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen, Benue, Plateau and Southern Kaduna are the worst hit.

In eight years, between 2011 and 2019, Benue State had lost 600 churches and other Christian worship centers to Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen. By the account of Open Doors Int’l, “over 13,000 churches and 1,500 Christian schools were destroyed or burnt; with over 11,500-12,500 Christians killed and over 1.3 million Christians forced to flee their homes to escape being hacked to death by Boko Haram Jihadists between 2009 and 2014”.