Global News - Redeem the Oppressed

Nigeria Is One Of The Scariest Places To Be A Christian, Open Doors Claims

The first three months of this year saw at least 896 killings of civilians in Nigeria. Open Doors a persecution watch dog reports that this number includes hundreds of Christians, who had been killed because of their faith.

A Nigeria based research firm SBM Intelligence, blames the attacks on terrorist outfits namely Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), Fulani herdsmen and other violent groups. Open Doors claim that most Christians are killed in Nigeria because of their religion than rest of the world. Illia Djadi, said “Nigeria is currently one of the scariest places to be a Christian.”  Illia Djadi is Open Door’s analyst for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Christians reside mostly in Sothern Nigeria. Christians make up about 46% of Nigeria’s total population of 215 million. Nigerian Christians are facing extreme and oftentimes, brutal. The attacks perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist groups mostly affect the Christians living in the Muslim majority area in North Nigeria. But the persecution is not spreading in the southern part of the country too.

Although the terrorist outfits target civilians but Christians are targeted specifically because of their faith. Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have ardently expressed their desire to annihilate Christian population in Nigeria.

By Farrukh Saif

Farrukh Saif is a Pakistani human rights activist based in Germany. He founded his own organization, the Farrukh Saif Foundation (FSF), in 2009 with the goal of supporting marginalized and oppressed minorities in Pakistan who are affected by religious discrimination, blasphemy laws, forced conversions, abductions, rape, and bonded slavery. The main focus of the FSF is on the liberation of bonded laborers, particularly those working in brick kilns in rural areas of Pakistan. In 2018, the FSF merged with the US-based Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved. Throughout his career, Farrukh has been a leading voice for the rights of minorities in Pakistan and has gained international attention for his campaigns against the misuse of blasphemy laws and the belief that asylum is not a crime. In 2014, he played a key role in the release of hundreds of asylum seekers from Thai jails and has worked with his legal team to save numerous victims of strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Farrukh has also been invited by the Hungarian government to discuss his work and the issues he addresses. In addition to his work with the FSF, Farrukh has also been involved in various other humanitarian efforts, including providing health care services to internally displaced persons in Khayber Pakhtoon Khawa in 2009 and assisting flood victims in Sindh and Punjab in 2010. He has worked to aid victimized minorities in Pakistan and has a strong track record of successfully advocating for their rights. Farrukh joined forces with Keith Davies in 2018 to co-found the Emergency Committee to Save The Persecuted and Enslaved, and since 2009, they have collectively successfully rescued more than 36000 individuals from slavery and persecution.