Interview: Freedom of Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ilia Djadi, Open Doors Senior Analyst for Freedom of Religion and Belief in Sub-Saharan Africa, sat down to discuss the state of Christianity in the region.
What is Sub-Saharan Africa? What Countries are we talking about?
Well, when we talk about Sub-Sahara Africa, we mean all the countries located below the Sahara Desert. It’s a vast geographical area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the West through the Gulf of Aden in the East and going down to the Indian Ocean in the south.
It’s an area comprising countries of like Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and so on. Even South Africa.
Countries in the Sahel region, they have, I would say, predominantly Muslim population. While the coastal countries in the south are a predominantly Christian.
What did the context look like for Christians before? Say ten years ago
All these countries in Sub-Sahara Africa have enjoyed relative stability, political stability. They used to be great tourist destinations hosting major international events like the (Paris) Dakar Rally, going through the Sahara Desert to Dakar in the capital of Senegal.
But this is no longer possible because in the recent years, about 10 years or so, we have seen a dramatic deterioration of the security situation in that region of the continent and religious freedom is a dramatically undermined there now.
What happened to change things?
Emergency aid is just one way Open Doors partners are working in Sub-Saharan Africa.
What happened is this deterioration of security. This situation is affecting the daily lives of people living there in the Sahel countries.
For example, Burkina Faso is a clear illustration of this deterioration of the situation. Because this West African country, Burkina Faso, has a long culture of tolerance. People living there use to live in peace. They use to accept each other, regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds. But this has changed now. In 2019, since that period we have seen Christian minorities become a target now. They are targeted by Islamist extremist groups operating in the northern part of their country. One sad illustration of this fact is this attack, which took place in April 2019, it shocked many in Burkina Faso and elsewhere. During this attack, Pastor Pierre Ouedraogo, a 80-year-old man and five elders of his church, were all massacred just after the Sunday service.
Nigeria is another reminder. For 12 years now, northeastern Nigeria is affected by Islamist insurgency, led by a group called Boko Haram. This insurgency has killed thousands and more than two million people are displaced in northeastern Nigeria. We may remember the kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, when 276 of them were kidnapped.
Most of them were released. But 100 of them are still missing. We may also remember the kidnapping of this young schoolgirl a Christian schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, kidnapped and detained for her Christian faith. She is still in detention somewhere in the region of eastern Nigeria. So just to name a few names, it’s a reminder of how difficult it is for a religious minority for Christians living there and how the security situation has deteriorated in Nigeria.
Who is behind the attack on Christians?
Well, there is an upsurge of religious extremism in Sub-Sahara Africa. Radical preaching, radical teaching has been leading to hostility towards religious minorities such as Christians. The way people are behaving towards Christians have changed.
That’s the main issue. We have seen widespread Islamist insurgency and armed groups linked to al-Qaida or the Islamic State operating across Sub-Saharan Africa. Whether in the Sahel region, in countries like Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso, whether in Nigeria with a group called Boko Haram, operating around what is called the Lake Chad basin and affecting countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
But also, we have seen there’s a kind of expansion of this Islamist insurgency in eastern Africa. Where for the Somali based al-Shabab group, in Somalia, but also in Kenya and in the middle of the continent. They are in the area called the Great Lakes region, particularly in eastern DRC.
There is an Islamist group affiliated with Islamic State operating there and killing people. Also, more recently in southern parts of the continent. In Mozambique, the northern province of Cabo Delgado is affected now by Islamist insurgency.
So generally speaking, we can see there is no single part of the continent right now, which is spared by this Islamist insurgency. The phenomenon, the issue is now expanding and gaining territories.
How do Christians react to these attacks?
Well, Christians affected by this insurgency have shown a strong sense of resilience. It reminds me of these verses in Romans 8:35-37. The verses say: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As is written: ‘For God’s sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
This is the shocking reality faced by Christians living in these parts. When we read these Scriptures, we may think this is something of the past. Apostle Paul is talking to Christian in Rome. But this is a daily thing, Christians in Nigeria, in the Sahel regions face. They are facing death, persecution, famine, nakedness, thousands of girls, women kidnapped and raped and people killed. They know they are facing the danger, but they are ready to face it. ‘For your sake we face death all day long.’
For many of them, going to church or going to the market place is like travelling with a one-way ticket. There is no certainty. There is no guarantee of them coming back. But they will go. They will go to the church. And many have gone and never made it back. That’s the reality.
How is Open Doors helping?
Open Doors is active in the region through its local partner organizations whether NGOs or local churches. Providing relief materials like food, shelter or medicine when people are affected because there are now thousands of people displaced internally and externally. OD also provides trauma care because people are affected by all sorts of violence. But providing also training to church leaders, to member of the churches across that region.
Open Doors also does advocacy. My role personally consists mainly to raise awareness about the situation on the ground. What is happening there? I do extensive public speaking, interviews to draw the attention of the public in the Western countries and also policymakers on some of the abuse and difficult situation and hardship affecting or faced by Christians in that region.
How can we pray?
We want this region and the people living there in Sub-Saharan Africa to live in peace. So that they can go to school, they can go to the marketplace, they can go to churches, without any fear of being kidnapped, attacked or killed. They are human beings.
Let’s pray for a peaceful coexistence among the people who live in Sub-Sahara Africa. Let’s pray for political leaders to play their role by providing protection for all, including religious minority. Religious freedom is a human right, a fundamental right for all, regardless of their religious or ethnic background. We want them to protect Christians facing persecution in that region.
We also want to raise awareness among Christians living here in Europe. The Bible is teaches us that all of us as Christians form a body. Even though we are many, we are one body. We are one body in Christ. The question is, when you hear these stories of Christian affected or attacked or killed in Nigeria and Burkina Faso and DRC or in Mozambique – how do you feel? How do we think about it? Do we feel that we are part of the same body? Imagine if the Church in Burkina Faso is maybe the leg. And the verses said, when one member of that body is affected, the whole body is affected. Do we feel affected in Europe? Do we feel affected in Germany? How do we feel about it? What do we make about this sad situation of persecution, of violence, killing, sadness, affecting Christians in Africa?
