–– Mark Christopher

Audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

As a result of the current war between Israel and Hamas, charges of genocide have been levelled against Israel by South Africa and the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Israel has been accused of intentionally targeting Palestinian civilians in Gaza as they seek to defeat their long-time enemy Hamas. Any loss of civilian life is always tragic and regrettable during a time of war. Yet, the matter in this war is exacerbated by Hamas using women and children as human shields, which is a tactic long used by the Iranian-backed Hamas.   

Meanwhile, as the world cries “genocide” against Israel, there are two well-documented genocides on the African continent most are unaware of. At present, war and genocide have afflicted both Sudan and Northeastern Nigeria with scores of innocent people, many of them Christians, perishing at the hands of Islamic extremists.

The first-mentioned genocide in Sudan is the result of a 15-month conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The statistics of human atrocities committed in Sudan are as sobering as they are staggering. According to various United Nations agencies, Sudan currently has the largest population displacement in the world. This includes children of all ages.

There are some 8.6 million Sudanese civilians who have been forced from their homes; 25 million are in desperate need of humanitarian aid; 18 million Sudanese are facing severe hunger with 5 million of those facing starvation. These tragic statistics include 3.5 million children ages 5 and under staring acute malnutrition in the face. On top of these stats, there have been nearly 15,000 fatalities because of the ongoing conflict. Where is the outrage by the African Union and other African leaders, not to mention the pious international community? Their collective silence is loud while their concern for human rights abuses is conspicuous by its absence.  

The situation in Northeastern Nigeria is little better. Since 2009, Boko Haram and the ethnic Fulani Muslim herders, who have aligned themselves with Islamic extremists, have displaced an estimated 5 million people and have burned over 18,000 churches to the ground. The fatality estimates range from 53,000 and up as those who identify as Christians are the targets of violence and persecution. These statistics do not even include all the barbarities like rape, maiming, pillaging, and kidnapping with children being taken as slaves of Boko Haram. On this front as well, we are met with a stupefying silence on the part of the African Union, African leaders, international heads of state, and the mainline media. Why isn’t anyone speaking out about these horrors and the unfolding and escalating humanitarian crisis? 

So, what can you and I do about those suffering under the unspeakable oppression and persecution in Sudan and Nigeria? While there are limits to our involvement, there are a few things we can do: 

1. Be thankful for the freedoms and relative religious liberty we currently enjoy and never take this gift from God for granted. 

2. Inform yourself so you know how to pray and inform others who are unaware of the plight of innocent civilians and Christians in these war-torn places. The inserted link here is to a website operated by The Voice of the Martyrs. This is a good place to start becoming more informed about countries like Nigeria and Sudan.

3. Seek to inform others by highlighting the plight of the affected Sudanese and Nigerian civilians on social media platforms and other forms of media.

4. Most importantly, pray without ceasing; understanding the unseen spiritual forces at play here. To the point above, the more informed you are the more intelligently you can pray for those undergoing the ravages of persecution. Pray that the leaders of free nations might finally recognise human suffering and do something to quell the violence and ease the pain of those in the crosshairs of violent aggression. So, let us pray as 1 Timothy 2:1-4 encourages us to do as it reads: “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”