The attack on a church in Eruku, Kwara State, leaving two dead and a pastor abducted, is part of a disturbing pattern of targeted violence against Christian communities. The government's refusal to acknowledge the religious dimension of these attacks is a betrayal of its constitutional duty to protect freedom of worship.
When worshipers are slaughtered in their sanctuaries and the government remains silent or dismisses it as "communal clashes," it emboldens the perpetrators. It sends a message that Christian lives are expendable.
The NLM condemns this act of terror and the government's complicit silence.
We demand: - Increased security for places of worship across the country. - The arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the Kwara attack. - An open acknowledgement by the government of the specific threats facing religious communities.
Nigeria is a secular state, but that secularism is meaningless if the state cannot protect the right to life and freedom of religion.
