Life giving resources. Faithfully delivered.
FREE delivery on orders over £10
Serving over 2 million Christians in the UK
with Bibles, Books and Church Supplies
Our Buy-Now-Pay-Later accounts used
by over 4,000 UK Churches & Schools
Simon Cross
Christians in Northern Nigeria are being forced from their homes to such a degree that one state has been almost entirely cleared of Christians, according to the Barnabas fund.
The campaigning group which works on behalf of the persecuted church, says Christians have been forced out by a ‘relentless campaign of violence against them.’
The militant Islamist sect Boko Haram have taken responsibility for a series of attacks against Nigerian Christians.
They have specifically targeted Christians and others who come from Southern Nigeria, in an attempt to move them out of the northern half of the country where Boko Haram aim to build an Islamic state.
Now Nigerian leaders say that nearly 95% of Christians have left the state of Yobe in Northern Nigeria.
The Rev. Garba Idi, chairman of the Yobe State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said: “The situation in Yobe is terrible. Churches were burnt and attacked while many Christians lost their lives in the course of this mayhem…
“We have to leave because the sect is hunting us; that is why we had to flee… Many Christians have left Yobe to save their lives from these attacks.”
Boko Haram gained worldwide notoriety when they carried out a series of co-ordinated bombings over Christmas in 2011, the group went on to issue an ultimatum to Christians, demanding that they leave. Despite government assurances that sufficient safeguards would be put into place, there have been a number of further killings 2012.
And in the state of Yobe, things have been particularly bad, with more than 20 churches burned down, and hundreds of people have been killed, since violence flared there in November.
Now many Christians are leaving the area, to take refuge in the predominantly Christian southern states, while others are migrating to neighbouring Cameroon.
The problems in Nigeria have been raised in parliament, and most recently during the Church of England’s General Synod, when the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Justin Welby, told fellow Anglicans that Christians in Northern Nigeria were “systematically, deliberately and progressively being eliminated”.
Despite government claims to the contrary, Synod members heard that the church in the north east of the country in particular had received “little protection, if any”.
President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from Southern Nigeria, has said that he fears Boko Haram has supporters in his government, and others have suggested that the sect has members in the police and armed forces.
Spiritual Growth
Long overshadowed by the celebrations of Easter Sunday, Lent is being rediscovered as a sacred time of reflection and renewal in its own right and a time of preparation for the joyous seasonal finale.
Featured
Here’s our pick of the top 3 Stocking Fillers this Christmas. You can find even more at our Christmas Store.
News
Heading to a screen near you soon, The Most Reluctant Convert is a feature-length movie about the life and faith of one of England’s greatest Christian writers and thinkers: C.S. Lewis.
News
Go deeper with this year's brilliant Advent Bible Study Guides.
Interview
Feby tells her compelling story in her book Walking Him Home. After wrestling with grief and suffering, she shares how God’s healing and faithfulness is enabling her to step into her new life and ministry.
Featured
We are currently in a strange situation. Bible sales are up, but the number of people reading the Bible is going down. Even stranger, this situation is nothing new. There has always been a difference between the number of people who own a Bible and the number of people who regularly read their Bibles.