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Attacks on Christians in Nigeria

by Lukas Laible

How the raids at Christmas 2023 fit into an existing major conflict over resources in Nigeria

Nigeria, a country torn by multiple crisis and conflicts, experienced a series of attacks on Christmas 2023, which gained attention far beyond its own borders. But the search for reasons to explain this outbreak of violence is complex. With a spreading conflict on resources, fueled by climate change and population growth, it becomes evident, that more reasons are underlying then the smouldering religious conflict in the region.

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At least 195 dead, over 1,000 homes destroyed and countless people displaced as a result - these are the shocking figures from a series of attacks in Nigeria that took place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In three administrative districts of the state of Plateau, east of Nigeria's capital Abuja, heavily armed gangs attacked several dozen villages in a coordinated attack and killed their inhabitants in the most brutal manner.


The entire middle belt of Nigeria (in particular the state of Plateau) has been experiencing a dramatic escalation of violent excesses for decades (more than 60,000 deaths since 2001)1. Even if this development has received little attention from the German public to date, the attention paid to the events at Christmas last year can be explained. For example, the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote of "attacks on Christian villages "2, while Der Spiegel spoke of communities that were "predominantly inhabited by Christians "3. In summary: It was noticed because it was a massacre of Christians at Christmas.

 

The full-length publication is only available in German.

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Contact

Lukas Laible

Lukas Laible

Deputy Resident Representative to Nigeria

lukas.laible@kas.de +234 (0) 908 838 8850

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Concise, reduced to the essentials, but always highly topical. In our series "kurzum", our experts summarise an issue or problem on a maximum of two pages.