FROM DAILY MAIL: Nigeria’s Christians are being pushed to the brink of extinction – and could be wiped off the map within two generations without urgent international intervention.
That’s the chilling warning from Emeka Umeagbalasi, the outspoken founder of Nigeria’s International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety). And he’s not mincing his words.
The veteran activist says a silent, systematic genocide has swept Africa’s most populous nation for nearly two decades – a ‘long-running, coordinated campaign’ of killings, kidnappings and church burnings carried out mostly by Islamist militants and enabled by the Nigerian state itself.
“If you look at the clear-cut definition of genocide, it fits the present reality on the ground in Nigeria,” Umeagbalasi exclusively told the Daily Mail. “Fulani jihadists have infiltrated or laid siege on 35 of the 36 states. Nigeria is now under siege.”
Umeagbalasi said millions of Nigerian Christians live in fear each day as they may be killed or attacked.
The country’s 109 million Christians represent nearly half the nation’s population. Most of them endure harassment, intimidation, and the constant threat of violence.
According to Umeagbalasi, around 150,000 Christians have been killed over the last 16 years, mostly by Fulani militants, but also by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Another 30,000 Muslims have also been murdered. The level of violence fits the legal definition of genocide, he says.
Umeagbalasi says his figures have been gathered by people who travel from village to village, counting bodies, speaking to survivors, and documenting the carnage.
President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of allowing “mass killings of Christians.” He recently threatened to cut off aid to the country and suggested sending in the US military unless Abuja moves to protect them.
Umeagbalasi praised Trump’s response and urged Washington to act with real penalties such as targeted sanctions, asset freezes, and visa bans. He political elites in Nigeria are dependent on American bank accounts, European trips, and British healthcare.
“Stopping them from touching American soil would hit them where it hurts,” he claims.
As for US military strikes, Umeagbalasi supports “surgical hits” on Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani militant camps, which would “prevent a Rwanda-style catastrophe that could engulf West Africa,” the Mail reports.
“If Nigeria explodes, the humanitarian consequences will be too much for America, Europe, or anyone to handle,” Umeagbalasi said.
READ MORE AT DAILY MAIL
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