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The campaign poster for Father Hyacinth Iormen Alia alluded to his well-known healing ministry. | Courtesy of APC campaign

The Suspended Catholic Priest at the Helm of a Nigerian State as Governor

Jul 2, 2023

His titles are many: priest, faith healer, exorcist, psychotherapist, and, since May 29, governor of Benue State in Nigeria.

Nigerian Bishop Wilfred Anagbe sat down with CNA in June 2023 to discuss the ongoing persecution and killings of Catholics in his country, which has grown so much in recent years that, he said, “it has become a daily occurrence.” | Credit: Photos courtesy of Joop Koopman, Aid to the Church in Need United States

"It has become a daily occurrence": Nigerian Bishop on Persecution, Killings of Catholics

Jun 24, 2023

Nigerian bishop Wilfred Anagbe recently sat down with CNA in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ongoing persecution and killings of Catholics in his country, which has grown so much in recent years that, he said, “it has become a daily occurrence.”

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“Horrifying experience”: CNA Freelancer on Witnessing Firefight in Nigeria’s Plateau State

May 27, 2023

A freelance journalist who has reported on a surge of violent attacks by radicalized Muslims in Nigeria for CNA recently found himself caught in the middle of a firefight between government soldiers and armed militiamen.

Burned vehicles after Good Friday raid on April 7, 2023, in Ngban, Benue state, Nigeria. | Courtesy of Justice, Development, and Peace Commission

Advocates for Nigerian Persecuted Christians Fault US Report Depicting Fulani as Victims

May 6, 2023

Advocates for persecuted Christians in Nigeria are criticizing a new report prepared by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that they say ignores the many documented atrocities perpetrated against Christians by the Fulani ethnic group in Nigeria and instead paints the Fulani as persecuted victims.  

Burned vehicles after Good Friday raid on April 7, 2023, in Ngban, Benue state, Nigeria. | Courtesy of Justice, Development, and Peace Commission

Holy Week Attacks on Christian Communities in Nigeria Leave Nearly 100 Dead

Apr 10, 2023

At least 94 people reportedly have died in a series of deadly attacks on Christian communities throughout Holy Week in Benue state in north-central Nigeria, an ominous sign of escalating violence blamed on Muslim militias in the country’s Middle Belt region.

Janada Marcus with Pope Francis at the general audience on March 8, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Meets with Two Nigerian Girls who were Kidnapped by Boko Haram

Mar 8, 2023

Pope Francis met Wednesday with two young Nigerian girls who suffered horrendous violence at the hands of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Janada Marcus, 22, was forced to flee Boko Haram with her family twice before the terrorists attacked them again, killing her father and kidnapping her. | Aid to the Church in Need

"My parishioners shot dead in cold blood": Priests, Lay Faithful Describe Attacks in Niger

Mar 8, 2023

“Oh, what sorrow to have watched three of my parishioners shot dead in cold blood, right before my eyes — and I couldn’t do anything,” Nigerian parish priest Father Bako Francis Awesuh, 37, shared in a new Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) report published Friday.

Leah Sharibu. Credit: CSW

Half Decade “far too long”: Human Rights Group Calls for Release of Nigerian Teen, Leah

Feb 20, 2023

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the UK-based human rights foundation, is calling for the release of Leah Sharibu who has been in captivity since 2018 saying the half-a-decade period she has spent with her kidnappers is “far too long”.

Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke offers Mass in Rome at his titular church, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Parish, on Feb. 5, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Nigeria’s Newest Cardinal Shares Secret Behind the Highest Mass Attendance in the World

Feb 14, 2023

Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke said Nigerian society as a whole has “a traditional worldview” that recognizes the presence of God in life and society.

Father Isaac Achi, a Nigerian Catholic priest, was murdered in Niger State on Jan. 15, 2023. / Diocese of Minna

“After careful review” Nigeria to Remain off Religious Freedom Watch List: U.S. Department

Feb 8, 2023

A U.S. State Department official told EWTN that “after careful review” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has decided not to put Nigeria back on the list.

Pope Francis speaks at his general audience in Paul VI Hall on Jan. 18, 2023. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis: Jesus is "the unsurpassed model of evangelization"

Jan 18, 2023

Pope Francis invited Christians on Wednesday to pray for the grace to have a “pastoral heart” like Jesus that “suffers and takes risks” out of love for others.

A photo of Deborah Emmanuel on her Facebook page. Emmanuel, a Christian student in Nigeria, was killed by an Islamic mob on her college campus on May 12, 2022. | CNA

Nigerian Mother Charged with Blasphemy for Defending Murdered Christian Student

Dec 20, 2022

Rhoda Jatau, a Christian and mother of five, was charged with blasphemy in a Nigerian court yesterday for forwarding a video defending a lynched Christian student. 

Map of Nigeria. | Shutterstock

Nigerian Musician Files Lawsuit with Supreme Court Challenging Blasphemy Conviction

Dec 16, 2022

A Nigerian musician is taking a case to the country’s Supreme Court challenging a death sentence he was given in 2020 for “blasphemy,” a case his lawyers hope will overturn the harsh blasphemy laws that have plagued the country’s Christians and other religious minorities for years.

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U.S. Calls for Investigation into Nigerian Forced Abortions, According to Report

Dec 16, 2022

The U.S. Department of State says it is “deeply troubled” by recent allegations of a forced abortion program on more than 10,000 Nigerian women and has communicated its concerns to the Nigerian government, The Christian Post reported Dec. 15.

Police and residents of Wumat, a farming town 45 miles south of Jos, Nigeria, arrive to survey damage and help survivors of a terrorist attack on Nov 22, 2022. | Courtesy of Victor Nafor

Africa’s Leaders Gather in DC as Religious Persecution in Nigeria is Still Being Ignored

Dec 15, 2022

As President Joe Biden welcomes leaders from over 40 African nations this week, religious freedom advocates are calling for the U.S. government to recognize the rising persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Human Rights Commission "outraged" as State Department Excludes Nigeria from Watchlist

Dec 10, 2022

For the second year in a row Nigeria has been left off of the U.S. State Department’s list of countries that engage in or tolerate the world’s worst religious freedom violations, despite regular reports of kidnappings and killings of Christians, sparking outcry from members of a bipartisan government watchdog group. 

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Reuters Exposes Massive Rape and Forced Abortion Campaigns in Nigeria

Dec 7, 2022

According to a report published by Reuters today, a massive forced abortion program has been carried out by the Nigerian military on at least 10,000 women since 2013. In addition to exposing the Nigerian government’s forced abortion campaign, Reuters’ findings further evidence the use of rape as a weapon of war carried out by Islamist insurgents on Nigerian civilians.

Police and residents of Wumat, a farming town 45 miles south of Jos, Nigeria, arrive to survey damage and help survivors of a terrorist attack on Nov 22, 2022. | Courtesy of Victor Nafor

Despite Incessant Attacks, Nigerian Catholics Keep their Faith

Dec 3, 2022

November proved to be an especially deadly month in Central Nigeria, leaving Catholics like Matthew Onah and his family struggling to cope with their losses.  

Catholic elementary school in Gbeji, Benue State, Central Nigeria. | Courtesy of Kyarto Tyoumbur

Dozens of Catholic Villagers Reportedly Killed in Central Nigeria Raid

Oct 30, 2022

Details are still emerging after a violent raid by Fulani herdsmen Oct. 19 in Benue State, Central Nigeria, reportedly left dozens of Catholic villagers killed.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Nigeria's Abuja Archdiocese. Credit: Archdiocese of Abuja

Emulate Old Testament Rulers, Pray for Citizens: Catholic Archbishop to Leaders in Nigeria

Oct 17, 2022

The Archbishop of Nigeria’s Abuja Archdiocese has called on “political and traditional” leaders in the West African nation to find inspiration in the prayer attitude of Old Testament rulers and pray for the Nigerians under their care.