Violent persecution has become a fact of life for many Christians in Nigeria, and for now, there’s no end in sight. Brad Brandon, CEO and founder of Across Nigeria, appeared on Monday night’s episode of “Washington Watch” to shed light on the recent violence targeting Christians in Nigeria. It’s worse than you think.
Joint military operations between the U.S. and the Armed Forces of Nigeria successfully eliminated approximately 20 terrorists associated with ISIS, which included a high-ranking leader identified as the second-in-command of the organization. The precision weekend airstrike marks an important tactical success within the region.
While applauding the accuracy of the U.S. military and the cooperation of the Nigerian armed forces, Brandon emphasized that air campaigns alone cannot fix the underlying crisis facing the civilian population. Nigeria currently is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian, driven dominantly by a mix of terrorist networks and local militant groups fighting.
“The problem is huge. It’s dire here. You have over 70,000 Christians [who] have been killed since 2009. Last year, 72% of all the Christians killed in the world were killed within about a 300-mile radius of where I am right now,” he said.
The ensuing conflict has forced millions of rural residents out of their local villages, creating an unprecedented internal displacement emergency throughout the country. Nigeria’s middle belt and northern regions bear the brunt of unprovoked raids, which have seen entire villages regularly burned to the ground.
“There [are] 3.5 million people in [refugee] camps right now,” Brandon added. “How did they get there? Those are mostly Christians whose home and villages have been destroyed by radical groups like Iswap and Boko Haram. Every time, I turn around, there’s an attack happening on another Christian village.”
Brandon notes that alongside transnational terrorist groups, radicalized local factions are also inducing the violence.
“There’ve been quite a few Fulani who’ve been radicalized there, causing a significant amount of the death here, and we’ve been able to reach over 7,000 Fulani Muslims with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the last 11 years.”
However, there remain nomadic Fulani herder communities that continue to carry out devastating attacks on predominantly Christian farming villages.
Brandon offered criticism of how regional authorities are handling the crisis, noting a significant disconnect between state claims and the reality on the ground. While international observers classify the violence as a complex clash over land, Christian communities argue the government is actively ignoring the religious targeting motivating these massacres.
“The Nigerian government continues to deny that there’s any targeting of Christians, but Christians here are five times more likely to be killed than any other group in northern Nigeria,” he warned. “They’re inordinately targeted.”
Reflecting on his own past week at ground zero, Brandon shared a harrowing account revealing just how fast and unrelenting these attacks are. “Just last week, I buried 14 people, Christians, in a mass grave, went to the next village where there were 10 more who were buried. And about an hour after I left, another attack happened on that village. It is to me a small drop in a huge bucket.This problem needs to be resolved, and the commitment needs to continue from the United States and the Republic of Nigeria here.”
Zachary Patton serves as an intern at Family Research Council.
