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Has the Western Church Abandoned Nigerian Christians?

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Jul 19, 2016

Violence in Nigeria has been increasing, and has led to former Congressman Frank Wolf warning that the West needs to step in to do something about the crisis.

Wolf, who is a former Congressman from Virginia and now is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, recently visited Nigeria and witnessed the conflict and violence there firsthand.

“People of faith, Christians, feel very much forgotten,” Wolf said of his experience in the country. “Nigeria is fractured and is breaking down in so many ways, and it seems that the world has forgotten about it. 

“They feel abandoned by the West, and by the Church in the West. You are not hearing many in the West advocating (for them). They would expect that the faith community in the West, Europe, would be advocating, speaking out," Wolf told The Christian Post.

Terrorist group Boko Haram has been carrying out attacks in the country, many of which are specifically aimed at Christian communities. Fulani herdsman have also been increasingly posing a threat to Christians.

The Wilberforce Initiative has put together a detailed report on the crisis in Nigeria, and also included recommendations for how the U.S. can help.

To read the report, titled “Nigeria-Fractured and Forgotten,” click here.

Publication date: July 19, 2016