Pastor murdered en route to church conference
Armed individuals shot and killed a pastor and member of the Evangelical Church Winning All in the Kaduna Central District Church in Kaduna State, Nigeria, as he was traveling to a church conference. Kaduna State has experienced significant violence, often targeting the Christian community.
The Rev. Manasseh Ibrahim was killed on April 23, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported.
Yahaya Kinge, chairman of the local branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria, expressed deep frustration with the ongoing situation. “Christians who are direct victims of banditry and insurgency in Kaduna state are fed up with the inability of the Nigerian government to find a lasting solution to the incessant killings of innocent Christians,” Kinge stated.
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Various terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Islamic Fulani militants perpetrate violence on Christians in Nigeria. These groups have been responsible for numerous deaths and kidnappings across northern Nigeria over the last decade.
Interviews conducted by staff from ICC revealed that police forces had been observed standing by as militants, and sometimes even local community members, attack Christian places of worship. Additionally, community riots frequently obstruct the judicial process, resulting in Christians being unjustly detained without trial.
According to the World Watch List published by Open Doors, between the fall of 2022 and 2023, 4,118 Christians in Nigeria were killed due to their faith, and 3,300 were kidnapped. Despite the regularity of such violent incidents, there is often a conspicuous lack of government response, as noted by witnesses on the ground.
The Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), an organization headed by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi that has been critical of the Nigerian government, reported earlier that at least 8,222 Christians were killed across Nigeria from January 2023 to January 2024.
The violence led to attacks on 500 churches in 2023 alone, contributing to 18,500 churches attacked since 2009.
The group underlined the need for a global response to address what it described as a “Jihadist Genocide of Christians” in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has long pushed back on claims that the violence occurring in the Middle Belt states between herders and farmers constitutes religious violence. Christian human rights advocates have accused the government of overlooking religious elements and not doing enough to protect Nigerian citizens.
The ongoing violence has prompted calls for Nigeria to be labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern by international bodies, due to widespread religious persecution and a significant toll on Christian communities.
