by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) -Thousands of Christians in Nigeria have been murdered by Muslim militants in recent years, and now a UK parliamentary report has warned of an "unfolding genocide" in the African state, Christian Today reports. The UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG-FoRB) said in its report that armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen have caused “untold human and economic devastation” for Christian farming communities.
According to the UK report, the various causes of the violence included fighting the spread of extreme Islamic ideology. The report highlights horrifying attacks on Christians by Boko Haram militants and the Islamic State West Africa Province faction.
"Christians are being ruthlessly targeted, specifically because of their faith," the Parliamentary report confirmed. “The violence has claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more," the report said. Moreover, the report added, “peaceable Muslims, through collateral violence, can also become victims of this cruel Islamist religious ideology.”
Chair of the APPG-FoRB Jim Shannon said the UK Government must prioritize action against Christian persecution. "Among all the injustices for the UK to help correct in the near future, the widespread and growing persecution of Christians should be top of the list," Shannon said in the Parliamentary report."These Christians, and other persecuted minorities, must be our priority in the aftermath of a pandemic that may devastate communities already threatened with extinction,” he said.
Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the Parliamentary report was drawing necessary attention to the crisis. Despite almost daily reports of “appalling violence on innocent civilians,” Thomas said, “the governments of affected states and the federal government have failed woefully in fulfilling their responsibility to protect vulnerable villagers, to address the threat posed by these and other armed non state-actors, and to bring perpetrators of this violence to justice."