Published on February 12, 2024, 1:28 am

Image source: Fox News

In a recent turn of events, the European Parliament condemned the terror attack that took place on Christmas Eve in 2023, where at least 195 Christians were butchered and over 300 others got injured by Fulani militants in Nigeria’s Central Plateau State. The grave assault encompassed burning of eight churches, obliteration of homes and displacement of around 15,000 individuals from more than 20 communities. However, instead of associating the bloodbath with Islamic extremism, blasphemy accusations or enforcement of Sharia law, EU attributed it to climate change and environmental deterioration.

According to the EU resolution passed recently, the primary cause behind such antagonism is competition for land exacerbated by rapid global warming coupled with government’s failure in combating violence in an effective way. It further emphasizes on identifying and managing all root causes behind such brutality like shortage of resources, environmental degradation and lack or inefficacy of mediation schemes.

On the other hand human rights advocates voiced their concerns against this resolution. Georgia Du Plessis from ADF International highlighted that attributing these devastations merely to climate crisis extraordinarily underplays their religious motivations and ignorantly looks past the fact that global warming isn’t responsible for such intentional killings targeting Christian villages.

The atrocities prevalent in Nigeria don’t discriminate against faiths alone. ADF International is supporting a crucial legal case defending Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a Sufi Muslim musician who was sentenced to death under unforgiving blasphemy laws enforced in Kano state.

Furthermore members from the European Parliament Bert-Jan Ruissen and György Hölvényi denounced this resolution stating its failure towards acknowledging Islamic extremism as one significant factor eliciting havoc. They stressed out how aggression between farmers and herders cannot be credited as sole reason behind these violent acts committed mainly by Muslim extremists.

Nigeria topped worldwide charts for being deadliest for Christians; about fourteen individuals get slaughtered daily for practicing their faith making it account for 90% of global Christian martyrdoms in 2021. Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang labeled these orchestrated attacks during December 23-26 as “pure terrorism” and warned about urgent requirement for wide-ranging, independent exploration overseen by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.

The International Christian Concern based in U.S documented extensive loss of life and urged Nigerian authorities to prioritize capturing and prosecuting the terrorists. Several times Nigeria was listed in ICC’s annual report titled Persecutors of the Year over past three years due to its alarming trends against Christians.

Assailants commonly referred as “bandits” comprises mainly ethnic Fulani herders along with mercenaries flown from Chad or Niger, believed to have been operating in Northern Nigeria over a decade now. Observers with Christian Worldview perceive these assaults as cleverly planned conspiracies led with an ulterior motive to capture Christian lands and impose Islam.

Reports by Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List confirm Nigeria leading globally in terms of Christian mortalities during 2022 due to their faith; acknowledging involvement of groups like Fulani, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province or ISWAP in these devastating raids. To give accurate real news seems more crucial than ever when trusted news is becoming harder to find on such sensitive topics.