Save the Persecuted Christians | June 18, 2020
‘Save the Persecuted Christians’ Director: ‘Shows a Methodic, State-Enabled Genocide of Christians Continues to Ramp Up’;
‘Don’t These Lives Matter?’
WASHINGTON—Ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria could soon amount to genocide after steadily worsening since 2015, an informal coalition of British Members of Parliament concluded this week after an extensive inquiry into the violence.
The slaughter of Christians, primarily at the hands of militant, Islamist Fulani herdsmen, surpassed 1,000 in 2019 and more than 6,000 since 2015, according to the June 15 report, “Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide? An Inquiry by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief.”
The potential “genocide” label recognizes what Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), which advocates on behalf of hundreds of millions of Christians facing heavy persecution worldwide, has long argued.
“STPC welcomes this report from the U.K. Parliamentary group on the relentless violence toward Christians in Nigeria,” said Dede Laugesen, executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians. “It contributes to what we already know—a genocide on par with Rwanda or the Sudan is brewing in Nigeria. What is contained in this report must be translated into action.”
The report unveils damning evidence implicating the Nigerian government and global leaders—including the United States—for contributing to the slaughter through silence, Laugesen says.
“The U.K. report shows a methodic, state-enabled genocide of Christians continues to ramp up in Nigeria,” Laugesen said. “It grows and grows with the help of shamefully silent international leaders and media who refuse to intervene or even report on the violence.
“How many souls must perish, before the world acts? With its commitment to religious freedom as a hallmark of our foreign policy, the U.S. must step up to lead the world in response to this genocide. The immediate presidential appointment of a U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria would be a good start.”
Apathy among U.S. leaders and American Christians toward Christian persecution in Nigeria is inconsistent with recent outrage over police brutality toward African Americans.
“Last week alone, more than 300 were slaughtered,” Laugesen said. “Eighty-one people from one community were gathered together by Boko Haram and mowed down with machine guns. Women and children were not spared and some who were taken will be enslaved. Where is the International outrage? Where are all those who cried out about the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand? Is it because they’re Christians? Is it because they’re black Africans? Don’t these lives matter?”
The global Christian community is crying out for help from those who will listen, such as STPC.
“Over the weekend, I received a picture of a small Nigerian child, maybe 18 months old, with a lethal machete wound inflicted by a militant, Islamist Fulani herdsman that split the child’s skull,” Laugesen said. “Who could do this to a baby? It’s pure evil. Unfortunately, pictures like this fill my inbox daily.”
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.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, such as Christians in Nigeria, 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 Christiansendeavors 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