by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Three more Christians have been killed by suspected Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the Chibok area of north-east Nigeria’s Borno state, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Nigeria ranked first in the world last year for the number of Christians murdered on account of their faith.
The three Chibok Christians were murdered on February 25 in Kautikari, a predominantly Christian village that has endured repeated attacks by ISWAP, ICC reports.
Kautikari village is located close to the Sambisa forest where ISWAP has a base, ICC said. In January this year, ISWAP terrorists abducted 24 Christian women and children; four managed to escape but 20 remain in captivity. The Chibok Area Development Association reported this year that 407 Christians have been killed in 72 attacks in this area alone since 2012 by either Boko Haram or ISWAP terrorists.
Firmly embedded in northeastern Nigeria, ISWAP and Boko Haram Islamic militants have murdered thousands of Nigerian civilians and displaced millions more in their campaign to impose Sharia law on the entire country.
Thousands of Nigerian Christians, in particular, have been targeted and murdered by Islamic terrorists, including by Fulani Muslim herdsmen.
While rights groups, including the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom last year, have warned of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, the Nigerian government led by Fulani President Muhammadu continues to downplay the crisis and fails to take appropriate action.
The Biden administration has also downplayed the situation by removing Nigeria from its List of Countries of Particular Concern, namely countries that engage in severe violations of religious freedom.