The International Christian Concern (ICC) has listed Nigeria among the worst persecutors of Christians in 2023.
This was contained in its 2023 Persecutors of the Year Report released in Washington, United States on Tuesday, November 7.
The 88-page report names the countries, entities/groups, and individuals that harass, imprison, torture, and assassinate Christians for practising their faith.
According to the ICC, North Korea, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, Eritrea, Algeria, Indonesia and Azerbaijan as being oppressive towards Christians.
The organisation said at least 549 Christians were killed in 55 attacks in Nigeria between March and July 2023.
“Whether the world acknowledges the plight of Nigerian Christians or not, the country has become a burial ground for Christians.”
It partly read:
“Nigeria is arguably the most dangerous place to be a Christian in the world today. In the North, a very hostile group of Muslim extremists have attacked and devastated the minority population of Christians. In the Middle Belt, armed Islamic terrorists, known as Fulani militants, have been killing Christians and stealing their land at a prodigious rate for the last 20 years.
“Between mass murder and land stealing, millions of Christians have been displaced. Since May 2011, Boko Haram alone has been recorded as being responsible for more than 38,000 deaths.
Nigerian leaders tell the West that this is a complicated problem between herders and farmers with tribal overlays. But the truth is that we are witnessing a genocide of Christians in the North and Middle Belt, accompanied by an immense land grab.”
The ICC report also identified six entities: Allied Democratic Forces, Al-Shabab, Fulani Militants, Sahel Terror Groups, The Taliban and Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) as the worst oppressors of religious freedom and minorities.
It also listed individuals like Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Yogi Adityanath and Isaias Afwerki, as the worst persecutors globally.
