News and Events

U.S. urged to designate Boko Haram as terrorist group 
Jihadist group tied to Al Qaeda has killed thousands in Nigeria

WASHINGTON - Jubilee Campaign and Alliance Defending Freedom, together with several other concerned organizations, are formally requesting that the U.S. State Department designate the Nigerian Jihadist group Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Nine Christians killed, four churches burned in Nigeria

Boko Haram suspected in rampage in predominantly Christian area

Lagos, Dec. 4 (Open Doors News) — Nine Christians were killed and four Churches burned in two separate Dec. 1 attacks in northeast Nigeria by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist group.

FRESH pressure is mounting on the US President Barack Obama and the outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to designate Nigeria’s Islamist group, Boko Haram, a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) before the end of Obama’s first term next month.

At the White House, an ambitious effort has been launched by a team of several US groups led by Jubilee Campaign and supported by the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN) to mobilise thousands of Americans to sign a petition addressed to President Obama, demanding the designation.

The Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) has issued a “final call” to the Federal Government to neutralize the violence against Christians or risk losing the cooperation of the Christian community in its fight against Boko Haram.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the president of the Christians Association of Nigeria, who made the call was speaking after a meeting with other officials of the association over the latest attack on churches in Nigeria, which happened at the Bayero University in Kano state on Sunday.

Leaders of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) today gave a final warning to President Goodluck Jonathan put an end to the insecurity in the country or face down the the consequences.

Speaking through its president, Reverend Ayo Oristejafor at a press briefing after a high level meeting of the body in Abuja, CAN charged Mr. Jonathan to find a lasting solution to the senseless killings and bombings in the country.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) – the umbrella body of all Christians in Nigeria – has since its inception embraced dialogue as the primary form of resolution to disruptions in general and religious crisis in particular. Historical records will show that CAN has taken its stand at the forefront of the platforms of religious dialogue to promote peaceful conflict resolution from the inception of our nation. This position was stoically maintained at great costs to the Christian community as we chose to bear the burden of being the victimized rather than stoke the fires of disaffection in Nigeria.