As a reverse missionary and missiologists who left the shores of Nigeria 20 years ago, whilst my attention have largely focus on my new mission field (Europe), I have paid careful attention to escalating situation around religious persecution and freedom in my own country. Any casual observer will realise that whilst Christianity is growing in Nigeria,  all is not well with Nigerian Christianity with Christians being the target of abductions, killings and massive displacement.  The kidnapping of the Chibok girls in Nigeria in 2014 made headlines in international news and shone light on the situation in Nigeria around religious persecution.  But what many might not realise is that this sort of kidnappings have now become the norm by other militia groups. 

This is why the new data provided by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) is very significant in providing intelligence for our prayers but more importantly empowering advocacy on religious freedom in Nigeria.   The ORFA report covers research and analysis of a four year project mapping religious persecution in different parts of Nigeria.  It covers killings and abductions in Nigeria from 2019-2023 looking at various regions in northern Nigeria.  I want to commend this report to those interested in the area of peace-building and justice,  to those who advocate on religious freedom and to those praying for the situation in Nigeria

Overview of the report ORFA Report Overview

ORFA Report