A new report reveals that a genocide of approximately 62,000 Christians has taken place in Nigeria since the turn of the century at the hands of the Islamic terrorist groups Boko Haram and Fulani militants – in what is being called the “Silent Slaughter.”
The report “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter: Genocide in Nigeria and the Implications for the International Community” chronicles more than 60,000 testimonies of victims in Nigeria – many being witnesses who were specifically persecuted for their Christian faith – along with data and statistics confirming the mass murders. It was released by The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON).
No more silence …
ICON co-founder Kyle Abts is dedicated to exposing the atrocities endured by Nigerian Christians at the hands of terrorist groups – so the violence and genocide will be confronted and finally end.
"The firsthand accounts of the ongoing religious persecution and genocide are shocking and cannot be tolerated,” Abts insisted in a video teleconference call, as reported in his organization’s press release “While the country's own government has failed to stop the violence, Nigeria has been transformed into an epicenter of terrorist activities and a ticking time bomb. This report shows us that action is needed now, and intervention by the United States is critical."
Data compiled shows that between January 1, 2000, and January 31, 2020, more than 43,000 Nigerians were murdered by Boko Haram – known as one of the world’s deadliest Islamic terrorist groups. Additionally, nearly 19,000 Nigerians – mostly Christian farmers – were slaughtered by the Fulani during that time. According to the report, 17,284 of these deaths were from Fulani attacks – 13,079 carried out in predominantly Christian states, indicating that three out of four victims were Christians.
Even though Nigerian officials insist that they are “on top of the situation,” this could not be further from the truth, as ICON co-founder Stephen Enada asserts that terrorist attacks persist across the nation – with the attackers appearing to grow more brazen, due to the government's complacency.
"The ongoing violence and brutality perpetrated against innocent Nigerians by Islamist terrorists like Boko Haram and Fulani militants has to stop; it's that simple," Enada said in the release. "President Buhari and his administration are attempting to dictate the narrative and condition the world, really, to believe that Nigeria's Christians are safe from terrorism, which is simply untrue – as our report verifies. A U.S. Special Envoy is key to turning things around in Nigeria."
In order to stop the needless and merciless killing, ICON has asked the U.S. to send a special envoy to Nigeria for several years as the organization has ramped up efforts via its global Silent Slaughter campaign to expose the nation’s humanitarian crisis and bring peace.
Overwhelming support and calls to action
Congress of Christian Leaders president Rev. Johnnie Moore – who also serves as USCIRF commissioner – as well as Genocide Watch chairman Dr. Gregory Stanton and former Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) were just a few of the participants in ICON’s teleconference last week, and many other influential leaders are supporting the campaign.
"ICON's newly released report is both distressing and urgent,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins stressed. “This remarkable report paints a devastating picture of the ongoing slaughter that threatens to decimate Africa's largest and most prosperous country. [The exhaustive document] amounts to a clear-eyed presentation of death and destruction carried out by savage jihadis – most notably Boko Haram and Fulani radicals.
"It is my opinion," Perkins continued, "that this grim evidence calls for immediate action, [and] I hope and pray it is acted upon by responsible international governments and organizations willing to take every step necessary to save the lives of innocent men, women and children."
Baroness Cox of the United Kingdom Parliament also urged immediate action to stem the genocide.
"I have had the painful privilege of visiting some of the worst-affected areas and have heard directly from survivors of attacks,” Cox shared. “They have shared – with immense bravery and with tears – personal tragedies of mass slaughter, torture, amputations, rape, forced displacement and destruction of homes, churches and farmland. The longer these massacres and atrocities are tolerated, the more the perpetrators are emboldened. We give them a 'green light' to carry on their killings and destruction with impunity. I therefore strongly commend this timely report and hope that appropriate actions will result – as a matter of urgency."
International Christian Concern (ICC) also issued a statement validating the perpetuated crisis detailed in the report.
"ICC was alarmed by the evidence presented in 'Nigeria's Silent Slaughter,'” the organization serving the persecuted Church proclaimed. “The [report] helps to shed light on the horrific and large-scale persecution going on in Nigeria – a tragedy that continues to escalate, but consistently fails to garner appropriate international attention."
Nina Shae, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, also expressed gratitude for the report exposing the continued atrocities on believers perpetrated by Islamic terrorist groups in Nigeria.
"ICON's data sheds important light on the brutal onslaught of Christian communities in large parts of Nigeria,” Shae pointed out. “It … shows that Nigeria has become one of the world's hotspots of Islamic extremism and that now more Christians have been killed for their faith there than were slaughtered in ISIS's genocide in Iraq and Syria, combined. So far, our secular media and foreign policy establishment have missed this story. I hope our policy makers and ordinary citizens study this critical report and take action to help.”
Genocide Watch’s Stanton said he hopes ICON’s “historic” document will generate action – similar to an earlier report exposing brutal genocides.
"[ICON’s report] is very much like the document the Knights of Columbus put together when we were trying to demonstrate to Congress that ISIS was committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims and other religious groups in Syria and Iraq, which – as you know – resulted in a unanimous resolution …" Stanton pointed out.
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