Another Religious War Taking Place: Nigerian Christians Under Attack

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

                                The men are wearing prayer shawls worn during a Jewish service

• Now, US President Donald Trump caused alarm across Nigeria over the weekend when he said he was contemplating military action in Africa’s most populous nation in response to what he claimed was a “mass slaughter” of Christians by Islamist insurgents.  Trump has told his military to plan for action against Islamist militants in Nigeria.  

  The reality on the ground, experts and analysts say, is a more complex and nuanced one. Both Christians and Muslims — the two main religious groups in the country of more than 230 million people — have been victims of attacks by radical Islamists, they say.  Various human rights organizations and U.S. lawmakers report that over 50,000 Christians have been killed by Islamist militants in Nigeria since 2009. Figures for recent years show the violence is ongoing and severe, though precise numbers vary between sources. 

  

Jews have been in Nigeria, a country of Africa! 8th Century CE: Jewish merchants, sometimes identified as Radhanites, reportedly settled in Timbuktu and established trade networks across the Sahara.(added 11/6/2025)

 I knew we had people who traded, but forget that they went that far!  Nigerian Jews are primarily members of the Igbo ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria who claim descent from the lost tribes of Israel. They are not listed in my Jewish Encyclopedia so have just recently come to the attention of such writers after 1992.  

 The community observes rabbinical Judaism, sometimes blending ancient traditions with modern Jewish practices they learn online, and has grown significantly, though estimates vary widely. Some, but not all, practice traditions that recall an Israelite ancestry and have developed their own communities and synagogues.  

• They have been referred to as the "world's first Internet Jews" because many learned about Judaism through online resources. 
  
• Some communities observe traditions that recall an Israelite ancestry, like certain rituals and celebrations. 
  
                             1899:  Sokoto, Catholic Center
Modern Judaism in Nigeria
The community has become a growing one, attracting attention from outside researchers and Jewish organizations. 
Outreach groups, like the Israeli-based Kulanu, have helped provide the community with religious items like tallitot and siddurim. 
Some have expressed a strong desire to visit Israel, to connect with their ancestral homeland. 
The largest group of Nigerian Jews is made up of members of the Igbo (pronounced ee-bo) tribe. While missionaries converted most of the Igbo tribe to Christianity in the 19^th century, and a small minority became Muslim in the 20^th, the proud Igbo Jews never forgot their origins. The intriguing documentary, Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria, follows the Jews of the Igbo tribe and their dedication to the faith of their ancestors. In the course of the film, a couple of the Igbo Jews recall their parents telling them that they were descended from the Hebrews of long ago.



Talk about who starves children!  
Biafran child suffering from kwashiorkor due to the mass famine caused by the Nigerian blockade of Biafra 

Starving children in the civil war

Biafra refers to a secessionist state that existed within Nigeria from 1967 to 1970, primarily populated by the Igbo ethnic group. It was located in what was the Eastern Region of Nigeria, and while Biafra is no longer a recognized country, some people continue to advocate for its restoration. The name also historically refers to the Bight of Biafra, an Atlantic bay on the coast of southeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. 
                                              


 
Food aid being unloaded from a helicopter

• The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was an armed conflict fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967.  The conflict emerged from political, ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions that preceded the United Kingdom's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. 
• The Igbo people's identification with Judaism became more pronounced during and after the Biafran War (1967–1970). Current estimates for the number of people practicing Judaism in Nigeria today vary widely, ranging from a few thousand to 30,000, with some sources stating 12,000-15,000 practicing in 2021. Added (11/6/25)

• It occurred to me belatedly to check how Jews of Nigeria were introduced to Christianity;  force or what?  

  Why do Nigerians/Yoruba people accept christianity?

  Politics

  I've been doing a lot of digging lately on Yoruba religion just to find out that it's very niche and most Nigerian people are Christian(or Muslims) now, why? Don't they know that the spread of Christianity was directly tied to the slave trade? Don't they know they very same people that created the Christian missionaries called their culture barbaric and fetish? They indoctrinated them and mocked their culture and they still worship it? It's so backwards to me! I'm surprised any black person in general would ever worship anything of the such knowing the history behind it!(And that's me nit even mentioning slavery in America!) So why? How do you guys do it?(from an agnostic atheist african american)

• • Modern Resurgence: It was during and after the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) that a distinct identification with Judaism, separate from Christianity, crystallized. In recent decades, a small but growing number of Igbos have left Christian practices to return to what they see as their ancestral religion, forming their own synagogues and communities, some with assistance from international Jewish organizations like Kulanu. 
  • The idea of a Jewish ancestry among the Igbo people (often referring to themselves as "Bnei Yisrael") became more prominent after the introduction of Christianity and the Bible by missionaries. 
    • Recognizing Customs: As Igbos learned the stories of the Hebrew Bible, many recognized similarities between ancient Israelite traditions and their own existing customs (known as Omenala or Odinala), which led some to believe they were descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel".
    • So it seems to me that Christianity came first, by hook or by crook, and THEN Judaism practices.  
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• Resource;
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cev18jy21w7o