"There is no war in the North. What we have is genocide against people of the Christian faith," said Rev. Musa Asake to Morning Star News (MSN).
As reported by Worthy News, Asake added that Islamic terrorism and lack of state protection has led to “outright genocide” of Christians in northern Nigeria.
He continued, "There is no prosecution of those who kill and this has encouraged these Boko Haram members to continue to bomb Christian areas while Fulani herdsmen continue to attack and kill Christians in rural areas of northern part of this country with impunity … Christians in the North are under an unprecedented siege by various groups of well-armed, roundly trained and heavily funded Muslim groups bent on expressing their hate against Christians and the Christian faith through mindless, mass murder of men, women and children."
As reported by Worthy News, Asake added that Islamic terrorism and lack of state protection has led to “outright genocide” of Christians in northern Nigeria.
He continued, "There is no prosecution of those who kill and this has encouraged these Boko Haram members to continue to bomb Christian areas while Fulani herdsmen continue to attack and kill Christians in rural areas of northern part of this country with impunity … Christians in the North are under an unprecedented siege by various groups of well-armed, roundly trained and heavily funded Muslim groups bent on expressing their hate against Christians and the Christian faith through mindless, mass murder of men, women and children."
MSN noted a recent reported by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), entitled "Boko Haram’s Religiously Motivated Attacks”, stated that the Nigerian government's "toleration of communal, sectarian violence has created a permissive environment conducive to further violence and a culture of impunity."
Rev. Asake explained the state-sponsored discrimination, “In the past 13 years, some of the governments in these mentioned states have refused to grant new building permits to churches or give approval for the renovation or expansion of churches. Some pastors have been given six months to vacate their church sites.”
USCIRF has documented 50 assaults on churches by Boko Haram jihadists between January 2012 and July 2013, resulting in 336 deaths. In addition, 31 separate attacks on Christians killed at least 166; 23 attacks that targeted Christian clergy, or Islamic leaders critical of Boko Haram, killed at least 60; and 21 attacks on institutions, or persons engaged in "unIslamic" behavior killed at least 74.
Rev. Asake added that converts from Islam are particularly vulnerable, saying, “Any Muslim that converts to Christianity in these northern Nigerian states is declared an apostate and faces severe persecution in flagrant violation of his free choice of religion. Indigenes of these states who are Christians are treated as inferior and suffer untold injustice, oppression and cannot rise beyond certain levels in the states' public services, no matter how educated they are."
MSN said on Jan. 2, 2012, Boko Haram called upon all Christians to leave northern Nigeria within three days, or face death; within one week of the ultimatum, more than 30 Christians who didn't leave were shot to death.
Rev. Asake explained the state-sponsored discrimination, “In the past 13 years, some of the governments in these mentioned states have refused to grant new building permits to churches or give approval for the renovation or expansion of churches. Some pastors have been given six months to vacate their church sites.”
USCIRF has documented 50 assaults on churches by Boko Haram jihadists between January 2012 and July 2013, resulting in 336 deaths. In addition, 31 separate attacks on Christians killed at least 166; 23 attacks that targeted Christian clergy, or Islamic leaders critical of Boko Haram, killed at least 60; and 21 attacks on institutions, or persons engaged in "unIslamic" behavior killed at least 74.
Rev. Asake added that converts from Islam are particularly vulnerable, saying, “Any Muslim that converts to Christianity in these northern Nigerian states is declared an apostate and faces severe persecution in flagrant violation of his free choice of religion. Indigenes of these states who are Christians are treated as inferior and suffer untold injustice, oppression and cannot rise beyond certain levels in the states' public services, no matter how educated they are."
MSN said on Jan. 2, 2012, Boko Haram called upon all Christians to leave northern Nigeria within three days, or face death; within one week of the ultimatum, more than 30 Christians who didn't leave were shot to death.
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