(ChurchLeaders) In a new report about “Religious Tensions and Fulani Communities in West and Central Africa,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) describes increasing violence in Africa’s Sahel region. The independent, bipartisan commission—which makes policy recommendations to the President, State Department, and Congress—emphasizes that several complicated issues are overlapping in the large swath of land stretching from Senegal to Sudan.
Violence has been escalating in the region, with frequent news reports about Christians being attacked by Fulani people and churches being burned down. The watchdog group International Christian Concern estimates that between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria during the past decade. On the latest World Watch List from Open Doors, Nigeria ranks 12th for persecution of Christians.