Recent religious fighting between the Nigerian security agencies and Muslim fundementalists in northern Nigeria has resulted in the death of more than 200 people, and the threat of more unrest is still very real. A few years ago, a VGR library in the area was burned to the ground by a similar conflict.

Tensions are always high in northern Nigeria. Scarce natural resources, poverty, and sharp cultural and religious difference fuel routine outbreaks of violence. Christians are often persecuted by the Muslim majority, which has recently resulted in the burning of Christian churches and armed mobs patrolling city streets. The Muslim militia claims that the latest violent confrontation is a consequence of Christians burning two local mosques, but Nigerian authorities have a different version of the causes as reported by the media.

More than 200 ethnic groups generally live peaceably in Nigeria, although civil war left one million people dead between 1967 and 1970, and there have been bouts of religious violence since then.

Brother Andrew Alasa, VGR Office Manager in Lagos, is in contact with the believers in the north and will keep us posted of their wellbeing. So far they are all reported safe, but they have been instructed to stay indoors for their protection. The believers in Nigeria humbly ask for your prayers as they deal with the dangers just outside their front doors.