Christian Persecution in Nigeria Intensifies as Colleges Reportedly Ban Christian Worship

Pelican Press · March 25, 2024

Persecution in Nigeria Intensifies as Colleges Reportedly Ban Worship

With persecution intensifying in Nigeria, many Christians face amplified social pressures.

The latest example centers on two government colleges. Sean Nelson, legal counsel for ADF International, warns of dangerous, anti-********** bias on these campuses.

Listen to them on the latest episode of “Quick Start”:

“The situation in Nigeria, just generally, is a very, very difficult situation for Christians, in particular, especially in the northern part of the country,” Nelson said. “Nigeria [is] the largest democracy in *******. … It’s roughly equally divided between Christians and Muslims, with the northern portion of the country being predominantly *******.”

It’s in that region where many Christians become “marginalized” and face discrimination.

Nelson and ADF International are now sounding the alarm over two universities — one federal and one state — that have reportedly barred ********** students from “being able to use any facilities for worship [or] fellowship.”

Watch him explain:

“The reason you know it’s discrimination is that … the ******* students are completely allowed to use all of these facilities,” he said. “They’re preventing Christians from using those spaces, from worshipping on campus, having fellowship; they have to go off campus to do that. It’s just plain discrimination.”

Nelson said such restrictions are a total violation of Nigeria’s constitution, which protects freedom of religion and belief. But, as CBN News has extensively reported, Christians aren’t only facing social pressure; some are facing ********* and ******, with officials failing to uphold protections.

“When you combine [the college issue] with some of the targeted killings that Christians are facing all across the north — there’s been hundreds of kidnappings recently just the last couple weeks,” Nelson said. “It’s a really horrible situation for them.”

Nelson said the government in Nigeria isn’t prosecuting people who commit such horrific *******, citing the case of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a ********** and a Shehu Shagari College of Education student in Sokoto, Nigeria, who was brutally murdered May 12, 2022.

The violent ******* was purportedly filmed and shared on social media, but Nelson said no one was held accountable.

“Nobody is ever punished,” Nelson said. “In Deborah’s case, they arrested two attackers … and they release them a year later for ******** to prosecute, and so they are free. No one has been held accountable for that. No one is ever held accountable for any of these kinds of attacks.

As CBN News recently reported,