Armed herdsmen raze 1,200 churches annually —Intersociety

By Jeff Agbodo

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has raised alarm that equipped herdsmen, Boko Haram insurgents, and different jihadist groups destruct an estimated 1,200 churches each twelvemonth successful Nigeria.

The rights radical said its investigations showed that astir 100 churches are attacked monthly, translating to astir 19,100 churches razed oregon sacked successful the past 16 years.

Intersociety, successful its latest report, stated that Nigeria is location to astir 113 cardinal Christians. This includes 32 cardinal sedentary Christians and 8 cardinal pastoral Christians successful the North, arsenic good arsenic an estimated 70 cardinal indigenous Christians successful the South.

Chairman of the group, Emeka Umeagbalasi, said among the “40 cardinal sedentary oregon indigenous and non-indigenous Christians” presently successful Northern Nigeria are astir 3 cardinal accepted worshippers. Many of them, helium noted, were primitively Christians and inactive carnivore Christian names. He besides disclosed that wrong the 70 cardinal indigenous Christians successful the South, astir 10 cardinal signifier accepted religions.

Umeagbalasi added that Nigeria arsenic has astir 100 cardinal Muslims — 76 cardinal successful the North and 24 cardinal successful the South — with Lagos, Oyo, Osun, and Edo States accounting for important numbers.

On the standard of attacks, helium explained: “Razing oregon sacking of an estimated 19,100 churches shows that isolated from the 13,000 churches attacked, burnt, oregon violently unopen down betwixt July 2009 and December 2014, an further 6,100 person been mislaid to Islamic jihadists since mid-2015 successful Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Borno, Katsina, Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Bauchi, Yobe, Southern Kaduna, and Gombe.”

The radical besides accused information forces of complicity successful spiritual profiling and attacks successful the South East. According to Umeagbalasi, since January 2021, information operations successful Orlu, Imo State, person targeted accepted religionists and their sanctuaries nether the guise of warring IPOB, whose leaders, helium said, are followers of Judaism.

He warned that persistent attacks connected churches person “emptied thousands of parishes and outstations” crossed the country, peculiarly successful the North, wherever Christian communities person been uprooted.

“The Archdiocese of Kaduna, covering the Diocese of Sokoto with parishes successful Zamfara, Kebbi, and Katsina, present exists with skeletal parishes and near-empty religion buildings,” Umeagbalasi said.

He pointed retired that Benue State, location to 4 dioceses — Makurdi, Gboko, Otukpo, and Katsina-Ala — with the largest Catholic and denominational Christian colonisation successful Northern Nigeria, has been earnestly threatened. Over 20 parishes and hundreds of outstations, helium said, person been closed owed to jihadist Fulani herdsmen.

In Plateau State, helium continued, the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos and its suffragan dioceses of Bauchi, Maiduguri, Jalingo, Pankshin, Shendam, Wukari, and Yola look “serious congregational emptiness and evangelical devastation.”

Similarly, successful Niger State, Christian communities successful Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, and Paikoro nether the dioceses of Minna and Kontagora, person been uprooted and placed nether siege by Boko Haram and Fulani bandits.

“The Catholic Diocese of Lokoja nether the Archdiocese of Abuja is besides facing superior threat, worsened by the caller activities of jihadist groups specified arsenic Mahmuda and Lakaruwa Islamic fighters and their patrons,” Intersociety further alleged.

The radical maintained that these systematic attacks correspond an ongoing run of spiritual cleansing, urging some the authorities and planetary assemblage to intervene earlier Nigeria’s Christian colonisation suffers irreversible devastation.

The station Armed herdsmen raze 1,200 churches annually —Intersociety appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.