Muslims kill almost 200 in Nigeria on Christmas Eve

 Suspected Nigerian Fulani militias attacked 21 Christian villages in the Bokkos,  Barkin Ladi, and Mangu counties of Plateau State on Christmas Eve, killing nearly 200 villagers according to government officials and humanitarian groups. The number of dead is expected to rise as families continue to search for missing loved ones. 

On Thursday, Plateau State Commissioner of Information and Communication Hon. Musa Ashoms reported 195 people killed during the Christmas Eve attacks, and villagers were still missing. He told communities to defend themselves and take up arms as needed.  

Amnesty International Nigeria reported 194 people killed in Plateau State including 148 in Bokkos, 27 in Barkin Ladi, and 19 in Mangu. The Nigerian Red Cross reported 161 deaths and 32,604 people affected. The attack touched 84 communities in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi and left 29,350 people displaced. In addition, 301 people were injured and 27 houses burned. 

Witnesses said that scant security was present to repel the attacks that lasted more than seven hours. 

“More dead bodies were found in the bush today,” said Timothy, a local from Mbar village in Bokkos County. “Yes, my village was attacked on Christmas Eve, and other villages close to my community. Many houses were burnt including my church. I can’t say how many people were killed but we found more dead bodies today and we are looking for missing ones.” 

Naomi, a resident of Mayong, lost four family members in the attack and fled to an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp. “My house was burnt, and I mourned on Christmas day,” she said. 

Ezekiel Peter Bini Condole, president of the Irigwe Youth Development Association covering Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Mangu called on Nigeria President Bola Tinubu to do more to protect Christians. He said that Christians in Plateau State should be compensated by the government for their losses. Condole added that there are threats of more attacks to wipe out Christians, and he called on U.S. President Joe Biden to pressure Nigeria’s leaders to stop the killings. 

Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places for Christians, particularly in the Middle Belt region. International Christian Concern (ICC) listed Nigeria in its annual Persecutors of the Year report the last three years. More than 50,000 Christians have been killed in the Middle Belt region over the past 20 years, and millions have been displaced. 

For interviews, please contact:  press@persecution.org. 

Have you ever wondered why Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are crappy countries?

 In countries like Myanmar and Nigeria, acts of persecution against Christians are more likely to make news reports because of their extreme violence. But in many other locations, persecution typically takes on a more subtle form. It likely won’t make any media outlet and might not have any documentation at all. But it’s still an ever-present issue that diminishes the quality of life for many Christians.  

One place where such persecution occurs is Bangladesh, a South Asian nation with an overall population of 170 million, where over 90% of the people are Muslim and most of the remaining portion are Hindu.  

Thomas (real name withheld to protect identity), a Christian in Bangladesh, says that many people “express their desire for conversion” to Christianity, but they don’t follow through with it due to “threats of killing and persecution.” 

Many children in Bangladesh “grow up with a nasty mentality to hate other faiths,” says Thomas. In the villages, these children often target the Christian families “to steal and destroy farms and gardens.” He adds that when Christians protest such behavior, then things become more aggressive.  

In the cities, says Thomas, anti-Christian sentiment can surface through harassment from non-Christian employees or having non-Christian employees refuse to cooperate with the Christian employee. The Christian employee might also get stuck with job duties on a Sunday, so that they might have to choose between attending church or keeping their job.  

Thomas isn’t sure exactly what percent of Bangladeshi Muslims support acts of persecution against Christians. He says, though, that it doesn’t take much to spoil the “full bucket of milk.” 

He gives the example in which you might have “just one person doing anti-Christian activities in a large Muslim family.” Maybe the other family members “silently support it,” or maybe they themselves “are also afraid” of their hostile family member. It can be very difficult for an outsider to determine which case is the reality. But either way, nobody discourages the person from acting on his hostility.  

Thomas says that “anti-Christian mentality is present throughout” the country among Muslims who are either uneducated or who study in fundamentalist madrassas which teach that Bengali is not a Muslim language, and that Islam is the only legitimate religion. “It’s enough to make a soft brain child into a violent fanatic,” says Thomas. 

Rates of Christianity are much higher among indigenous ethnic minorities in Bangladesh. Thomas says these indigenous Christians are typically “very humble and hospitable,” especially to a wandering laborer “who comes very helplessly to work in the area.” 

Thomas shares a scenario in which a Muslim might come to a Christian household to do agricultural work. The Christian family might give the Muslim some land to live on. Then, the Muslim “calls other relatives and builds a mosque with bamboo.” 

At this point, the guest might start to act like he’s the owner. Thomas says then “they become a threat to local people … they take away crops, steal fruits and vegetables, make a chaos without any cause.” At this point, the host family will have “lost their inner silence,” he adds. 

As for legal recourse, Thomas says how “without a complaint, the police have no responsibilities. And if you go to complain, you have to pay an official fee with a big bundle.”  Then, the police want evidence. “How do you show bullying and tricking?” asks Thomas.  

People tend to view filing a criminal complaint as a major source of harassment. As Thomas explains, “If the police call you to the station, you lose your daily wage and maybe even your job.” And “if the police come to your home, you need to make them happy with some external hospitality, otherwise the report will be against you.” 

“Sometimes, the village chief or higher authority supports people against the Christians,” says Randall (real name withheld to protect identity), a pastor from northern Bangladesh. He adds that Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds have a slim chance at receiving fair treatment.  

Bangladesh’s secular federal government has expressed its concern about Islamic extremism, but Randall feels that the effort they make about persecution is “not fruitful action.”

In Randall’s view, “above 90 percent of Bangladeshi Muslims support acts of persecution against Christians.” He estimates that about half of Bangladeshi Hindus support such acts. 

Another South Asian nation, Sri Lanka, has an unusual degree of religious diversity, with four major religions forming considerable percentages of the population (about 70% Buddhist, a bit more than 10% Hindu, and Christians and Muslims each a bit under 10%). 

Aside from the catastrophic 2019 Easter bombings that struck multiple churches and luxury resorts, persecution of Sri Lanka’s Christians typically isn’t of the sort that makes headlines. And yet, it can be a constant issue. 

Elias (real name withheld to protect identity), a Catholic in northern Sri Lanka, says he doesn’t know of any cases of Sri Lankans having their land taken specifically because of their Christian faith.  

“But when it comes to the workplace, [Sri Lankan] Christians face a lot of challenges,” he says. “They need to work harder than the other laborers to survive in that workplace.” And in many cases, “They’re unable to reach the top positions even if they have talents to lead,” he adds.  

Persecution against Christians in Sri Lanka is often linked to Buddhist nationalism that is prominent among the majority ethnic group, known as the Sinhalese.  

But Elias says that Sri Lanka’s Muslims persecute against Christians in a way that is disproportionately stronger than the part of the overall population they form. This type of persecution, he says, is more pronounced on the country’s eastern coast, which has a higher Muslim population.  

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, with its overwhelming Muslim majority, some Christians are compelled to “depend on Muslim lawyers to fight against [other] Muslims” who have taken their land by coercion or with fake documents, says Thomas. These lawyers “are very clever,” he adds. They “take away money from the Christians” and then work on behalf of the Muslims.  

Thomas feels that Christians are powerless to solve this problem either legally or illegally. “So, it stays as is.”  

Making their way to Christian households are the next round of itinerant laborers. As Thomas describes, “They come as a humble cat and then become a tiger.” 

For interviews, please contact:  press@persecution.org.