On Sunday, tens of thousands of churches throughout Nigeria called an end to sectarian killings, outraged by a mob attack on a female university student accused of blasphemy. But, fearing additional violence, they took a different approach—one that was influenced by geography.
"The vast majority of our churches in the south took part, with many taking to the streets in peaceful protest," Testimony Onifade, senior special assistant to the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, stated (CAN). "We came together to condemn this heinous act and demand that the government identify, apprehend, and convict the perpetrators."
However, in the north, where Muslims make up the majority of Nigerians, John Hayab detailed a 20-minute prayer period set aside to seek divine intervention. The president of the Christian Association of Nigeria's Kaduna state chapter praised the "solemn" service held by all northern faiths, despite local authorities prohibiting protests after some Muslims threatened counter-demonstrations.
Instead, a group of 120 Christian leaders convened at a Kaduna city church, which was heavily guarded by police and security personnel.
There was cause to be cautious.
Deborah Samuel was beaten to death and set on fire by fellow students at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Nigeria's northern state of Sokoto two weeks ago. Officials and police attempted to intercede, but to no avail.
Two students were arrested. Protesting for their release, Muslim supporters proceeded to destroy an additional 11 buildings, descended on Christian shops in the city, and besieged the palace of the sultan of Sokoto who had condemned the May 12 murder.
According to her friend Rakia, Samuel’s last words were, “What do you hope to achieve with this?”
After a colleague shared Islamic material on an exam-prep social media group, Samuel posted an audio recording asking him to remove it. Friends who overheard some Muslim students deeming her response to be blasphemous urged her to retract the statement.
Instead, she responded, “Holy Ghost fire. Nothing will happen to me.”
Gideon Para-Mallam, the former Jos-based Africa ambassador for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, joined demonstrations in the middle-belt Plateau state.
He called for peace and restraint. But also, for an explanation.
“How is it that our young people behaved in this way?” he asked. “All those dreams and hopes for the future, destroyed in a few moments of profound evil.”
Nigerian Christians circulated the video response of a radical imam with a picture of the slain former leader of Boko Haram in the background.
“Anyone who insults the prophet of God, kill him,” the imam said. “Don’t waste time telling the authorities, just kill him.”
It has been a bloody year.
Open Doors, which ranks Nigeria No. 7 on its World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian, tallied 896 civilians killed by Islamic extremists in the first three months of 2022.
Abubakar Shekau was confirmed dead last June, killed in a firefight with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Over 40,000 militants surrendered to the Nigerian government, while a large but unknown number of commanders joined their jihadist rivals.
The same week as Samuel’s murder, ISWAP released a video depicting the execution of 20 Christians.
“Christians around the world should be in awe of the testimony of these men,” stated Jo Newhouse, spokesperson for Open Doors in Sub-Saharan Africa, “who, to the best of our knowledge, held on to their faith even in the face of execution.”
Formed in 2014 to confront ISIS in Syria and Iraq, an 84-nation coalition announced alarm in Africa, where the tempo of affiliate attacks far outpaces the parent organization in the Middle East. The 3,461 sub-Saharan killings in 2021 represent 48 percent of the terrorists’ worldwide total.
And in mid-April, Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed more than 150 Christian farmers in 10 Plateau state communities. While some attribute the attacks to a shortage of resources, Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohamed stated there is now a “sort of holy handshake” between bandits and Boko Haram.
Last year, Open Doors ranked Nigeria an ignoble No. 1 in the categories of Christians killed (4,650) or abducted (2,510), as well as Christians’ homes and shops (a symbolic tally of 1,000 each) attacked, for faith-based reasons.
Deborah Samuel put a face on the crisis.
“We see this wicked act as having been facilitated by successive governments failing to respond effectively to religious extremism and violence,” said Para-Mallam. “This impunity has gone on for too long.”