Report finds one Christian killed every 86 minutes in Nigeria 

Attackers killed an average of one Christian every 86 minutes in Nigeria through early September this year, a new report says.

Christian aid group Equipping the Persecuted counted at least 4,216 Christian deaths from Jan. 1 through Sept. 8, or nearly 17 per day.

The group used witness accounts, local church records and reports from its workers in Nigeria to confirm the deaths. The actual count is higher, including eight Christians killed in Benue State on Sept. 10 that weren’t added because they came after the report’s cutoff.

Equipping the Persecuted also estimates that violence has forced more than 5 million Christians from their homes. More than 600 Christian communities have either suffered destruction or lost residents.

Much of the violence has happened in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, between the mostly Muslim north and mostly Christian south. Armed groups have attacked Christian farming communities, burned homes and churches and kidnapped residents. Many families still can’t safely return.

The researchers identified armed Fulani groups as the biggest threat in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba states and the Southern Kaduna region.

The Fulani are a large ethnic group across West and Central Africa. Most are Muslim, and many herd cattle. The report distinguishes the armed groups responsible for attacks from Fulani civilians.

Numbers from the Nigeria Terror Tracker show Fulani-linked fighters caused more than four times as many deaths as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province combined this year.

The tracker recorded 786 deaths from attacks involving Fulani fighters between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7, compared with 189 involving the other two groups combined. It keeps a separate count from Equipping the Persecuted’s Christian death registry.

The researchers acknowledge that land and grazing disputes often cause violence. However, they say those problems alone don’t explain the repeated attacks on Christian communities, where militants burn churches, drive families out and take control of their land.

News outlets have described the violence as clashes between farmers and herders or called the attackers “gunmen.” Equipping the Persecuted says that coverage downplays the targeting of Christians for their faith.

Muslims have also died in the attacks, most of them non-Fulani, the report says. Researchers found that religious hatred drives most of the attacks on Christian farming communities they examined.

Heartlander News reported in May that Nigeria’s government had hired a $10 million Washington lobbying operation to deny allegations of genocide against Christians.

President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom last October.

Equipping the Persecuted wants the United States to keep pressure on Nigeria to protect Christians and prosecute those responsible for the attacks.

“Washington must recognize this crisis for what it is, hold the perpetrators accountable and put American intelligence and diplomatic resources behind stopping the violence,” founder Judd Saul said.

The group also urged Nigeria to dismantle the militant groups and help displaced Christians return to their homes. Its recommendations include protecting villages and farms, restoring families’ property and rebuilding churches and schools.

“Humanitarian relief remains essential, but relief alone is insufficient,” the report says.

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Equipping the Persecuted)