Persecution of Nigeria’s Christians raised in UK House of Lords

The jihadist extremism driving terrorist attacks across Nigeria has been raised in the UK Parliament’s House of Lords. Christians have typically been the <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/why-are-more-christians-killed-in-nigeria-than-everywhere-else-combined/">target</a> </mark>of such attacks. Lord Alton of Liverpool has called on the UK government to take action to help identify and bring to trial the perpetrators of <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/christmas-attacks-in-nigeria-leave-at-least-160-christians-dead/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">recent extremist atrocities</mark></a>, and of previous killings such as the Pentecost Sunday church <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/gunmen-massacre-more-than-50-catholics-during-pentecost-sunday-mass-in-nigeria/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">massacre</mark></a> in Owo, Ondo State, in 2022. Some argue the continued campaign of attacks <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/us-criticised-for-not-addressing-mounting-genocide-against-christians-during-bloody-islamization-of-nigeria/">amounts to genocide</a></mark>. “Who is being brought to justice for the further 200 killings in Plateau State in Nigeria just two weeks ago, over Christmas?” Alton said during an 11 January debate in the House of Lords, <a href="https://acnuk.org/news/uk-nigeria-peer-demands-justice-for-christians-killed-by-extremists/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">reports</mark></a> Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Lord Alton recalled meeting Dominic and Margaret Attah – survivors of the Owo attack – who visited the UK as part of an ACN event in 2023. “Margaret’s legs were so badly damaged by the jihadist bomb that they had to be amputated,” Alton said. “The couple wanted to know – and so do I – why no one has been brought to justice in this culture of impunity.” He added: “Why is Leah Sharibu – whose case I have raised regularly in your Lordships’ House and whose mother, Rebecca, I escorted to the Palace of Westminster so that she could meet Members of both Houses – still in captivity, having been abducted, raped and forcibly converted at the age of 14?” Making a direct address to Lord Benyon, the UK Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy, Alton said: “I would like him to look particularly at the situation in Nigeria and the absurd suggestion – made, I might add, by a Head of State [Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland] – that climate change was the cause of 40 people being murdered in a church in Ondo on Pentecost Sunday." Alton acknowledged: “Climate change and cuts to aid certainly impact development”, but added that “so does jihadist ideology, and we should not be frightened in saying so. Persecution and conflict are major drivers in the displacement of 110 million people worldwide. These drivers destroy lives, such as those that I have just mentioned, and set back development.” In response, Benyon stated that Alton “was right to remind us that linked to this is the whole humanitarian piece”, and described how “the Pentagon first described climate change as the great risk multiplier, and, with that risk to security, systems of governance collapse.<br><br>“With that," Benyon concluded, "comes increased authoritarianism." Lord Alton also highlighted #RedWednesday, ACN’s annual initiative to highlight Christian persecution around the world. Last year, #RedWednesday 2023 focused on the dramatic rise in violent <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/african-bishops-rebuke-continents-political-leaders-for-failures-on-multiple-fronts/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">conflict and persecution</mark></a> in Africa.<br><br><em>Photo: This image grab made from an AFPTV video taken in Maiyanga village shows families burying in a mass grave relatives killed in deadly attacks conducted by armed groups in Nigeria's central Plateau State, 27 December 2023. (Photo by KIM MASARA/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>