Blasphemy laws and their discriminatory enforcement are becoming another major threat to religious liberty in Nigeria, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The USCIRF study also found that blasphemy bans contained in the nation’s…
USCIRF again draws attention to attacks on worshipers ahead of country’s independence anniversary
Four days before anniversary celebrations of Nigeria’s independence from Britain, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom issued yet another statement condemning attacks on worshipers in the country. The terrorist attack reportedly claimed 15 lives. It happened in Bukkuyum, which…
Violence in Nigeria threatens religious freedom for Christians and Muslims alike, USICRF reports
Religious intolerance and deep partisan divides have given rise to nonstate actor violence in Nigeria that increasingly threatens freedom of belief and practice in a nation once known for its widespread religious diversity, according to a new report by the…
Is Nigeria really the world’s most dangerous place for Christians?
Over the past several months, two Christian NGOs — Open Doors and the Voice of the Martyrs — have been persistent in their claims about religious violence in Nigeria. Both organizations believe the many acts of terror recorded in the…
Fact-finders highlight ethno-religious violence in Nigeria, while State Department declines to act
Christians and Muslims both fear they will be “eradicated” in Nigeria, a fact-finding team from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom discovered. Last year, the commission, known as USCIRF, asked the U.S. State Department to label Nigeria, Africa’s most…
Displaced by the war in Ukraine, some Nigerian medical students won’t be allowed to practice if they come home
In the last six months of his sojourn abroad as a medical student, Maurice Nwokejiezi has, on at least two occasions, come up against forces determined to thwart his ambition. The first was in Ukraine where in February, as a…
In Africa, inflation and a food crisis threaten not just the economy but people’s lives
While inflation troubles the United States and economies around the world, the rising cost of food and essential commodities is having a deadly effect across Africa. The challenge on the African continent is not just about the rising cost of…
Many voices call for prosecution of mob who lynched and burned Christian student in Nigeria
Four weeks after the brutal mob murder of Deborah Samuel, a 22-year-old Nigerian Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, reactions to her killing and the demand for the prosecution of her killers have not ceased. On May 12,…
Tragic church attack in Nigeria claims more than 50 lives on Pentecost
In one of the most horrific, if not deadliest, terror attacks in Nigeria this year, scores of gunmen on Sunday morning, June 5, invaded and laid siege to a church and killed more than 50 worshippers. The tragic event unfolded…