Indonesia Religion Forum: Nigerian Archbishop calls for religious tolerance

Nov 2, 2022 by Andrew Symes

By Chris Sugden:

His Grace, Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria greeted R20 participants on behalf of the largest Anglican Church in the world, with 25 million regular worshippers. Archbishop Ndukuba then issued a moving appeal to the R20, stating that events in Nigeria would prove a real test for the decisions taken at the summit. Due to attacks by Islamist extremists from Boko Haram, ISIL, Al-Qaida and radical militia of Fulani Herdsmen, he said, Nigeria was now one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. Thousands have been killed and kidnapped for sex and ransom, over 150 villages have been sacked and over 2 million have been forced to flee their homes and property. In spite of this sobering reality, Archbishop Ndukuba stated that “few are willing to listen to the victims. Even when the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on religious freedom reported that Nigeria Christians are facing genocide in slow motion, the West insists this is just tribal clashes between pastoralists and farmers both fighting for economic resources caused by climate change.”

Ndukuba condemned “politically correct disinformation” being propagated by those within Nigeria benefitting from the violence. He ended his speech by stating his two hopes for the R20: (1) That it will help address and where possible stop such outrages; and (2) that the Indonesian model of religious tolerance and pluralism can be propagated on the world stage and especially in Nigeria, where it may help to transform that nation’s religious differences into a blessing not a curse.–

See more on the R20 global religious forum here