Aid leader: Nigerian Christians facing systematic persecution

The National Director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Australia and New Zealand, Bernard Tatuni, has condemned what he describes as the world’s “shocking indifference” to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, calling it a humanitarian and faith crisis largely ignored by legacy mainstream media.

Tatuni’s comments came after American talk show host Bill Maher drew attention to the scale of violence against Christians in Nigeria, noting that “over 100,000 have been killed since 2009” and “18,000 churches burned.” Maher said the killings amounted to an attempt to “wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” questioning why global outrage was so muted.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, Tatuni said Maher was right to highlight the silence surrounding the atrocities. “Two groups get little airtime — Africans and Christians,” he said. He cited ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report, which covers 196 countries and documents discrimination, oppression, and persecution based on faith. “Nigeria is firmly in the red category,” Tatuni said. “It’s not just discrimination — it’s persecution.”

According to Tatuni, Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and armed Fulani militias have made Nigeria “an epicentre of Christian martyrdom.” He said more than 60,000 Christians have been murdered since 2000, with more than 7,000 killed this year alone. “Every single day, Nigerian Christians wake up to the news of kidnappings or attacks,” he said. “It’s systematic, targeted, and relentless.”

ACN, a pastoral rather than humanitarian agency, supports thousands of faith-based projects annually — rebuilding churches, funding transport for priests and nuns, and providing trauma healing. “We’re there to keep faith alive where it’s under greatest assault,” Tatuni said, describing the Nigerian Church as “young, vibrant, and tested in faith.”

Tatuni also warned of a growing hostility toward Christianity in Western nations, citing a “loss of faith” as the root cause of increasing attacks on churches in the United States and Europe. “Fifty years ago, the Western world threw off the shackles of collective Christian faith,” he said. “Now, instead of worshipping the Creator, we worship the climate and consumption. Radical secularization has bred intolerance — and violence against Christians will continue to rise.”

He concluded that while persecution tests believers’ faith, it also challenges the rest of the world’s compassion: “They’re being tested in faith, and we’re being tested in love.”