Country Profile - Nigeria
Population: 154.7 million
Capital: Abuja
Government: Federal republic
Religion: Christian 47%; Muslim 42%; Ethnoreligionist* 10.5%; Other 0.5%
History
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has been beset by military coups.
It was only in 1999, when Olusegun Obasanjo became President, that this West African country made a peaceful transition to an elected leadership and civilian rule.
The national Government presides over a federation of 36 states and a melting pot of more than 250 ethnic groups. It faces the huge challenge of uniting a nation strongly divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Religious context
Freedom of religion is enshrined in Nigeria's constitution which declares it to be a secular state. Yet, hardline Islamists seem bent on turning Nigeria into a Muslim nation.
Twelve states in the north have adopted Sharia or Islamic law since 1999: in many instances, Sharia is applied to all citizens, not just Muslims. The result has been communal clashes for which religion is often the trigger - and in which thousands of people have died.
Tensions between Christians and Muslims are high in the northern Sharia states. Christians are often marginalised and discriminated against in work and education. Churches have been burned and Christians sometimes killed in riots. There have been Muslim casualties too but the death toll among Christians is disproportionately high.
The general election in April 2007 was the first transfer of power between civilian leaderships in Nigeria's history.
The ballot, which was marred by accusations of vote-rigging, delivered a Muslim President, Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). But Yar'Adua's rule was cut short by ill health.
The National Assembly appointed Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, as Acting President during Yar'Adua's extended illness and Jonathan became President when Yar'Adua died in May 2010.
Persecution
Meanwhile, the violence continues.
Plateau state in central Nigeria remains a particular flashpoint. Ongoing violence, fuelled by an influx of jihadists from countries such as Chad, has claimed thousands of lives in Plateau since 2001.
On March 7, 2010, Islamist militants killed up to 500 people, many of them women and children, in three Christian villages near Jos, the state capital. Shortly before then, rioting between Christians and Muslims in Jos had claimed lives on both sides - but media reports of Christians inflicting heavy casualties on Muslim communities had been exaggerated, according to church leaders.
Attacks continued in 2010, culminating in a series of bomb attacks in Jos on December 24.
Meanwhile, in Maiduguri, Borno state, about 30 attackers armed with knives and petrol bombs raided the Victory Baptist Church in Alemderi at Christmas, killing Pastor Bulus Marwa and four others.
Christians have repeatedly called on state and national authorities to do more to protect their communities from further extremist attacks.
Release projects
Release's work in Nigeria includes:
- Offering persecuted Christians pastoral and spiritual support to come to terms with difficult experiences and face the future
- Practical projects helping persecuted Christians, such as re-roofing damaged homes, setting up small businesses, paying school fees
- Discipling new Christians from a Muslim background
Sources: BBC; Britannica Online Encyclopaedia; International Christian Concern; The Voice of the Martyrs Canada; The World Factbook 2010; World Christian Database
* Ethnoreligionist: followers of local, tribal, animistic or shamanistic religions, with members restricted to one ethnic group.
Updated January 2011