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CSW calls for action to address rising number of attacks against Christians in Nigeria as President Muhammadu Buhari visits UK this week

Religious freedom advocacy CSW has called on the British Government to raise the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria with President Muhammadu Buhari when he visits the UK this week.

The call comes after recent weeks have seen a renewed surge of violence targeting Christian communities in Nigeria’s Kaduna state. Recent incidents include the abduction of four Catholic seminarians from the Good Shepherd Major Seminary in the state’s south on the 8th January, and what has been reported as a “four day campaign” targeting 10 Gbagyi communities in the Chikun and Birnin Gwari Local Government Areas by Fulani militia which started on 6th January.

At least 35 people were killed and some 58 others abducted during the attacks. Those kidnapped reportedly include a mother and her six-month-old baby and ransom demands made by their captors since the kidnappings are now reported to have topped $US275,000.

There are also reports that around 100 people were abducted on 14th January following an attack on the convoy of the Emir of Potiskum in Yobe state on the Kaduna-Zaria highway. Around 30 people were also reportedly killed in the attack, including four members of the Emir’s entourage.

Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of CSW, said he was “deeply troubled” by the spike in militia attacks and abductions in Kaduna state.

“The failure of the Kaduna state and Federal governments to protect vulnerable communities and to bring these attacks to a definitive end is not only unacceptable; it has enabled this violence to transform into a threat to anyone residing in, or passing through, the state,” he said in a statement.

“CSW reiterates its call to the Kaduna state and the Federal governments to address this violence in a swift, decisive and unbiased manner, and to prioritise the return of abductees, and rehabilitation and justice for survivors. The relentless death and destruction is an appalling indictment of the continuing failure by both levels of government to fulfil their primary mandate of protecting all citizens impartially.”

Thomas described the rising levels of insecurity throughout the country as “a threat to investment and sustainable development” and urged the UK Government to “raise this general deterioration in security” with President Buhari during his visit, “impressing upon him the urgent need for a comprehensive and effective solution, and offering assistance if necessary”.

President Buhari is scheduled to visit the UK from today (20th January) for a UK-Africa investment summit.

 

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