Every few days another report arrives from Nigeria's Middle Belt: a village attacked at night, families killed in their homes, survivors burying their dead. This week it was Plateau State again.
According to Open Doors, 3,490 Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria in the last reporting year — nearly three in every four Christians killed for their faith worldwide. These are not abstractions. They are farmers, pastors, mothers and children.
What can be done
Nigeria's government has a duty to protect all its citizens, and too often it has failed the Christians of its rural north and centre. Western governments that send aid and sell arms to Abuja have leverage. They should use it, and make the protection of religious minorities a condition of partnership.
Churches in the West can do something too: pray, give to the ministries that support persecuted believers, and refuse to let their suffering be forgotten.
Religious freedom is the first freedom. A world that shrugs at the killing of Christians in Nigeria will not long defend it anywhere else.
This is an LN24 editorial. It reflects the view of LN24's editorial board.
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