On the recent attacks on Christmas Eve in Plateau State in Nigeria

B90112/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the recent attacks on Christmas Eve in Plateau State in Nigeria

(2024/2552(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Nigeria,

having regard to article 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999,

having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 24 December 2023, on Christmas Eve, 150 people from Nigeria’s central Plateau State were killed in a series of attacks by gunmen on motorbikes identified as members of the local Muslim herder communities;

B. whereas these attacks deliberately targeted Christians as they took place on Christmas Eve, clearly attempting to hurt the Christian communities at the heart of their faith;

C. whereas on 25 January 2024, 30 more people were killed in a series of attacks around Mangu town in Nigeria’s central Plateau State;

D. whereas, between January 2021 and March 2022, more than six thousand Christians have been targeted and massacred in Nigeria by Islamist groups such as Boko Haram;

E. whereas the narrative propagated by some that climate change is to blame for the current conflict ignores the reality of decades of religious conflicts in the region;

F. whereas, according to the Dutch NGO Open Doors International, more than 360 million Christians faced high levels of persecution, harassment or discriminations in the world in 2023; whereas, of those, 5000 have been killed and 5000 more imprisoned due to their faith; whereas these numbers have been rising continuously for years; whereas this alarming situation calls for a firm reaction by the international community;

1. Extends its deepest sympathy to the victims of these barbaric attacks and its condolences to the families of the victims; expresses its indignation at these gruesome attacks towards innocent people;

2. Condemns in the strongest terms all attacks on Christian communities across Nigeria and the world;

3. Strongly condemns the atrocious acts of jihadist organizations, such as Boko Haram, responsible of mass-killings and the destabilization of Nigeria;

4. Underlines that these heinous acts were all preventable; regrets that, even though the assailants sent menace letters to the targeted villages, warning them of impending attacks against them, protection was not provided;

5. Calls on the Nigerian authorities to guarantee freedom of religion and the security of all citizens regardless of their faith;

6. Observes that this religion-motivated violence overlaps on millennia-old conflict schemes opposing tribes of herders and farmers in the South Sahel region, both sides having adopted different religions as an addition to their ancient differences in way of life; underlines that this complex structural religious and civilizational confrontation cannot be explained or justified by climate change;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Nigerian authorities, the Council, the African Union and the United Nations.