Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The world must not ignore the “genocide” of Christians in Nigeria, the Catholic Bishop of Gboko told members of Congress on Thursday.
“The mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, by every standard, meets the criteria for a calculated genocide from the definition of the Genocide Convention,” Bishop William Avenya of Gboko, in center of Nigeria, told a congressional commission on Thursday.
The bishop said that “it is depressing that our Middle Belt region has truly become a vale of tears, a region where mass burials are very common!”
Bishop Avenya was testifying at a Dec. 17 hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan congressional commission, on “Conflict and Killings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.”
The Middle Belt is a fertile region stretching across the central part of Nigeria, the site of an increasing amount of violence in recent years where many farming villages in a predominantly Christian have been attacked.
According to the International Crisis Group, there were an average of more than 2,000 fatalities per year from 2011 to 2016 in the Middle Belt. Although 600 have died in the Middle Belt this year, the number is nearly six times that when the area of concern includes the country’s north, said Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the State Department.
Christians and Muslims in Nigeria have suffered an mounting toll from violent attacks by Fulani militants in the Middle Belt and in the country’s northeast by the terror groups Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap)—formerly Boko Haram—and by the new Boko Haram group that split off from Iswap.
According to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR), more than two million are estimated to be “internally-displaced” in Nigeria.
The drivers of the violence are complex, members of Congress and State Department officials said on Thursday.
Fulanis are nomadic herdsmen who populate the broader region of the Sahel, some have been driven south into the Middle Belt by desertification caused by climate change, commission co-chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said on Thursday, and he noted there are also counter-reprisals committed against Fulanis.
Nevertheless, “[t]he largest, dominant driver of conflict in the Middle Belt region is committed by Fulani extremists, who appear driven in large part by ethno-religious chauvinism, against mostly Christian farmers – though I do note that elsewhere Shia Muslims are also victims, and that intra-Sunni conflicts also exist within the Muslim community as well,” Smith said.
Many of the reported attacks on villages are “massacres,” Smith said, as civilians are targeted for killings, injuries, and rape.
In 2017, Catholic bishops reported an increasing number and intensity of attacks by Fulanis, who were employing sophisticated weaponry not before seen in previous herder-farmer clashes.
Some bishops have emphasized the ethno-religious nature of the attacks, claiming that the largely-Muslim Fulani militants specifically target Christian villages and churches.
However, one Nigerian priest involved in conflict management recently told Aid to the Church in Need that the violence “is more of a resource conflict than a religious one,” as the nomadic herdsmen are in search of water and grazing land because of desertification.
U.S. religious freedom ambassador Sam Brownback said on Thursday that violence “often plays out along faith lines” even if the conflicts were not religious in origin.
Non-governmental organizations have warned of “increasingly religious undertones” to the conflict in the last year, he said, with reports of religious sites burned and forced conversions of some kidnapping victims.
Bishop Avenya charged the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christians in the Middle Belt.
“How can one explain a scenario where as many as a hundred innocent and defenceless villagers are killed in one single attack and no one says anything about it?” he asked.
“It appears that the system has not only permitted but is also aiding the enthronement of supremacist views of one religious group against the others,” he said.
Destro said that religious and political leaders and aid groups have emphasized the lack of security in the country.
“If a community calls the Nigerian equivalent of 911, nobody answers. There is no effective police protection,” he said. Local communities do not have the resources to protect themselves and prosecute the perpetrators of violence.
Destro noted that “the Nigerians themselves are beside themselves” over the violence, and that “[t]here is some denial that there’s religious violence, but I did not find that to be the case in most instances.”
The hearing came after two more attacks on civilians were reported in international media this week. On Dec. 15, the Islamist terror group Boko Haram admitted culpability for the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolboys at a school in northwestern state of Katsina, and in the country’s southeast a Nigerian priest was kidnapped by four armed men on Monday, and later released on Wednesday.
Due to the ongoing violence against civilians in Nigeria, the State Department last week designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern (CPC)” for the first time ever—a listing reserved for the countries with the worst records on religious freedom, such as China, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia.
The CPC designation is “hopefully a true wakeup call” to the government, Smith said, noting that if there is no proper response to the designation, the U.S. should consider using sanctions.
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Don’t start wars and the consequences can be avoided. Obviously that reality didn’t cross the minds of Islamic terrorists and their supporters.
I think the whole purpose of October 7th was to disrupt peace attempts & power structure in the region. The well being & best interests of Gazan residents was not the terrorists or Iran’s first concern. It never has been.
Nor is the well-being & best interests of people ever the first concern of that which remains the ultimate motivator of Islamic terrorists, which is Islam, the religion of barbarity. Moreover, Islamic terrorists are not simply “radical Muslims” as dishonest apologists for Islam continue to gaslight the rest of the world about instead of telling the truth about Islam that is published in black and white in all of their authoritative documents. Islamic terrorists are faithful practitioners of Islam in their actions of brutal violence they inflict on others based on that aspect of Jihad which calls for violence to further the goals of Islam, which is the entire world under the rule and domination of Islam.
Of course, the reality of Islam and the fact that gullible people are easily misled about Islam due to some favorable encounters with individual Muslims does not justify in any way any abuse or violence visited directly upon non-combatants, and to the extent this is being done in Gaza by anyone is morally reprehensible.
Tell me how you are not reacting exactly as the Hamas terrorists calculated. Show how you are not playing directly into their hands.
Tell us, why are you supporting and defending Hamas?
Gaza residents elected Hamas. Now we are beginning to see some regret and resistance to their tyranny among Gazans.
Be careful to whom you provide support.
Hamas is the ruling party in Gaza.
Calls for the destruction of Israel can be found in Hamas’ founding documents.
There is no peace because peace is not the objective of Hamas. Never has been.
In fact Israel used to occupy Gaza. They gave it up some 30 or so years ago in hopes of securing peace.
Upon taking possession, the Palestinians immediately started to lob rockets from Gaza into Israeli cities.
The Catholic pastor cannot say what needs to be said: That there will be no peace in the Middle East until the Muslim leaders there want peace.
What was that quote? I think Golda Mier said it: There will be no peace until the Palestinians love their children more than they hate us (the Jews)?
Hear, hear!!
(meant to reply to this post first time around fyi)
That has nothing to do with the Christians or the many Muslims who have nothing to do with Hamas. The Baptist Church and Holy Family Catholic Church have had a long presence in Gaza without any problems from their neighbors.
Advise the Ishmaelites to repudiate their Fatwa against their infidels that includes Western civilization in particular with a special venom reserved for the Jews between the river and the sea.
Does anyone know a truly reliable charity that will forward aid and donations to the poor Christians in Gaza and Fr. Romanelli? Is it even possible to get aid to them?
Thanks
Over an eight-year period, I resided in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, during which time I traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This experience afforded me the opportunity to engage with diverse Muslim communities, observe their cultural practices, and develop a nuanced understanding of the region. While my interactions were predominantly positive, and I have undertaken studies of Islamic texts, including the Qur’an and Sahih al-Bukhari, I do not claim expertise in Islamic theology or jurisprudence.
The assertion that ‘an Islamic terrorist is nothing less than a faithful Muslim’ presents a problematic generalization. While some interpretations of Islamic texts may be used to justify violence, it is crucial to acknowledge the diversity of Islamic thought and practice. The term ‘radical’ may be imprecise, but it attempts to differentiate between those who adhere to interpretations that condone violence and those who do not. The claim that moderate Muslims exhibit ‘laxness’ in their adherence to Islamic teachings is a subjective assessment that requires careful consideration of varying theological perspectives. It is a simplification to suggest that the adoption of a ‘faithful path’ inevitably leads to the acceptance of terrorism, ignoring the complex interplay of socio-political, economic, and individual factors that contribute to radicalization.
That’s what the Salafis believe. However, there are other disciplines of Islam. I lived in Cairo in 2005 for almost 5 1/2 months on a research project working with a group of Christians and Muslims who all socialized together. The Muslims were of the Hanifi school of thought. When the Copts were at Mass it would be a Muslim couple who would drive me to English language Roman Catholic Mass.
Through the years I kept up with these people. Thanks to the internet during the reign of the Islamist Morsi the I was able to witness the “people’s uprising” against this Islamist regime. When Christians worshiped Muslims came from all over Cairo and locked arms standing outside, surrounding the church to see that none of Morsi’s cohorts could enter. I’m sure you could search for the uprising against Morsi.
Unfortunately, the Christians in central Egypt were and are still suffering under Salafi rule.
Re Hamas rule: Fatah won the election. The elected Fatah leaders were dragged up onto roof tops and hurled off by Hamas which also happened in Egypt under Morsi’s brief rule. By the way, the most powerful supporter of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood was Barak Obama who was president at the time.
Life is never black and white; it is full of intricacies and contradictions.
For some doses of reality, Catholic World Report readers can check the following from a most informative website:
https://thereligionofpeace.com/pages/articles/jesus-muhammad.aspx
https://thereligionofpeace.com/pages/myths/index.aspx
https://thereligionofpeace.com/pages/games/index.aspx
>>>>>
“Fantasy Islam: A game in which an audience of non-Muslims wish with all their hearts that Islam was a ‘Religion of Peace,’ and a Muslim strives to fulfill that wish by presenting a personal version of Islam that has little foundation in Islamic Doctrine.” -Dr. Stephen M. Kirby
“terrorist group Hamas and Israel” should be reworded to “terrorist group Israel and Hamas”
May God bless Israel & God’s chosen people at Passover.
May the Church start praying for Israel’s conversion.
The Church seems to be more involved in the Gaza war. Iran is more emboldened by the delay of religious attention. The Pope’s appeals are 2 years old. That is a long time given the disaster at hand and the loss of thousands of innocent lives.
I have suggested that all religions assemble to present a united front and confront the murderous “religious” Ayatollah to help him understand his mortal sin and plead with him for sanity.
The Pope made “frequent calls” to the parish in Gaza?? Thats nice. But I wonder if he made frequent calls to the families whose children were murdered or kidnapped on October 7th? Somehow I doubt it. And I wonder if he ever pondered how it came to pass that this place is the LAST surviving Catholic/Christian parish in all of Gaza? I’m pretty sure its because almost every last Christian was driven out of the place.