Save the Persecuted Christians Responds to Recent Attacks in Northeastern Nigeria
‘There Must Be Accountability for These Violent Attacks’
WASHINGTON— Many civilians are dead after armed men on motorcycles gruesomely attacked agricultural workers in northeastern Nigeria. Officials say the attack occurred Saturday in the country’s Borno state. Multiple outlets report that suspected Islamist militants attacked the farmers while they were harvesting the fields in a rural part of the state.
“The United States must publicly acknowledge and resolve Islamic terrorism with an appointment of an US Special Envoy,” said Dede Laugesen, executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), a leading international human rights advocacy group that works on behalf of hundreds of millions of persecuted Christians worldwide. “In addition, there needs to be immediate hearings on US Aid as well as on other US interventions in Nigeria. There must be accountability for these violent attacks.”
Though no one has claimed responsibility, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) noted that at least two militant groups are active in the area: Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province. Both groups have carried out massacres in the region before. More than 37,000 people have died in incidents involving Boko Haram, the Council on Foreign Relations estimates.
Save the Persecuted Christians is working to raise awareness about the plight of over 300 million Christians facing extreme violence and injustice in countries around the world. The organization—an informal, national coalition—began in February 2018 and reorganized as a formal charitable organization in December 2018.
The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, such as Christians in Nigeria, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.
