June 10, 2019 | MEDIA ADVISORY
Save the Persecuted Christians and Heritage Foundation Event ‘Insecurity in Nigeria: The Victims Speak’ Will Expose Violence in Nigeria That Has Devolved into an Ethno-Religious War
WASHINGTON—Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), which advocates on behalf of hundreds of millions of persecuted Christians worldwide, will host a very special panel discussion on June 11 to give voice to Nigerian victims of Christian persecution and describe the horrors they have suffered.
Set for The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., the “Nigerian Delegation Panel” with the title of “Insecurity in Nigeria: The Victims Speak”will welcome those with firsthand experience of persecution for their faith.
Multiple, deadly and intensifying conflicts grip Nigeria. Given the protracted nature of the insecurity, the international community risks becoming complacent about the profound dangers associated with the conflicts that are driven by a toxic mix of ideologies and grievances, STPC reports.
WHO: The Heritage Foundation, International Committee on Nigeria and Save the Persecuted Christians
WHAT: Nigerian Delegation Panel | “Insecurity in Nigeria: The Victims Speak”
WHERE: The Heritage Foundation’s Lehrman Auditorium, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Washington D.C.
WHEN: 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, June 11 | 5:30 p.m. reception to follow remarks by Nigerian delegation
WHY: To shed light on terrorist violence in Nigeria that has devolved into an ethno-religious war
HOW: Media may contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com to attend.
RSVP link for the general public.
Guests who will provide testimony include:
- Rebecca Sharibu, mother of Leah Sharibu, a Dapchi student taken captive in 2018 by the Islamic State West Africa Province and held as a “Slave for Life” for refusing to renounce Christianity
- Dr. Gloria Puldu, Rebecca Sharibu’s translator
- Alheri Bawa Magaji and Mercy Maisamari, daughters of the Adara Chiefdom of Kaduna State, who experienced weeks of Fulani militia violence earlier this year and whose leaders were falsely arrested and held without charge until May 31
- Napoleon Adamu, victims of Fulani militia violence from Benue State
- Rev. Dr. Benjamin Argak Kwashi, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jos and archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Jos in the Church of Nigeria
These witnesses will unmask the terrorist violence in the northeast and the conflict in the Middle Belt region that Nigerian leaders—a former Nigerian President, a Nobel laureate, and a national Christian group—say has devolved into a well-armed, well-funded, ethno-religious war that is destabilizing what may be Africa’s most important country.
Providing introductions of the guests will be Joshua Meservey, Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East for The Heritage Foundation; Kyle Abts, Director of the International Committee on Nigeria; Dede Laugesen, Executive Director of Save the Persecuted Christians; and Hon. Frank R. Wolf, former Congressman and author of the International Religious Freedom Act.
The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.
According to Aid to the Church in Need, which released its biannual report on Religious Freedom in the World in November, over 300 million Christians experience persecution. According to Open Doors USA World Watch List, 245 million Christians are victims of high to extreme levels of persecution (i.e., torture, rape, sex-slavery, expulsion, murder and genocide), an increase of 14 percent over 2018. Open Doors also estimates 1 in 9 of the world’s Christians experience persecution and that every month: 345 Christians are killed, often in public and without regard to gender or age; 219 Christians are abducted and imprisoned indefinitely without trial; and 106 churches are demolished.
Since most of these crimes are not covered in the media, Save the Persecuted Christians has developed a dedicated news aggregator—www.ChristianPersecutionNews.com—to capture current instances of persecution and to provide readers with an easy way to share these heartbreaking stories with others.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being attacked, imprisoned and/or exiled for their beliefs, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.
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To interview a Save the Persecuted Christians representative, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com