Paul Tilsley reports for FoxNews.com about a disturbing development in Africa.
A never-ending massacre of Christians being “killed for sport” is reportedly happening in Nigeria, yet the world appears to be largely deaf to the matter.
While much of the world this week has been celebrating a beginning – Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ – in Nigeria they are mourning the end of life – the deaths of more than 100 Christians – as the world remains virtually silent.
Armed bandits ran amok, according to Amnesty International, in some 20 communities across central Nigeria, killing more than 140. In a country where accurate statistics are traditionally hard to come by, some sources have put the death toll closer to 200.
The Christians were killed in a wide swath across an invisible line that separates the mostly Muslim north and the predominately Christian south in the country’s Plateau State. According to multiple sources, Christians represent 46% of Nigeria’s population.
“There was yet another Christmas massacre of Christians in Nigeria yesterday. The world is — silent. Just unbelievable,” tweeted leading evangelist the Rev. Johnnie Moore on X, formerly Twitter.
More than 52,000 Christians “have been butchered or hacked to death for being Christians” since 2009 in Nigeria, according to Intersociety, a civil society group based in Onitsha.
“The U.S. Mission in Nigeria condemned the recent attacks in Plateau State and expressed heartfelt condolences for the tragic loss of life,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response to a question. Calling for accountability, the spokesperson added, “We are deeply concerned by the violence, and we are monitoring the situation.”
“The single worst place in the world to be a Christian is in western Africa, particularly in parts of Nigeria,” the Rev. Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. Moore is a former commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, and co-author of “The Next Jihad.”