The Archbishop of Nigeria, Henry Ndukuba, has told a new international platform of religious leaders how many in the Global South are ‘finding in Jesus Christ hope for living and eternity’.
But the Primate also told the R20 (a gathering of leaders from major world religions in the countries of the G20,): ‘Nigeria is now one of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian.’
The R20 met for the first time before the G20 intergovernmental forum in Indonesia. It was co-sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and hosted by the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim organisation.
Ndukuba told the gathering: ‘The Global South is where Christianity is experiencing rapid growth, people are becoming Christians daily and finding in Jesus Christ hope for living and eternity. They have found the word of God and the Holy Spirit their source of strength and hope in the face of great challenges. Jesus Christ said that He “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”.’
He added: ‘Christians in Nigeria, since the formation of the nation, persistently faced persecution, especially in northern Nigeria, and have learned to live with it.
‘What has been of great concern, in the last decade or more, is the increasing totalised violence against Christians and their communities, by Boko Haram radical Islamic sects since 2000, Al-Qaida and ISIL affiliates since 2009, and subsequently Fulani Herdsmen militias.
‘Nigeria is now one of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian. Thousands of people have been killed by these well-organised, well-equipped and well-funded extremist groups and over 150 villages have been sacked. There are over 2 million internally displaced people, and thousands more have been kidnapped for sex and ransom. Churches are now forced to pay millions of naira in ransom for kidnapped church members, and over a dozen pastors have been martyred by these extremists. This is of course in addition to the hundreds of churches that have been attacked, bombed, and destroyed. We live daily in great trepidation.
‘What is most problematic in the current situation is that very few are willing to listen to the victims. Even when the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on religious freedom reported that Nigerian Christians are facing genocide in slow motion, the West insists that this is just a matter of tribal clashes between pastoralists and farmers, both fighting for scarce economic resources caused by climate change. Politically-correct disinformation seems to be strategically pushed forward by Nigerian politicians and other groups who benefit from these undeclared massacres through various corrupt monetary and security budgets and the perpetuation of a radical ideology.’
