CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDST OF GUNS: A NIGERIAN STORY OF PERSECUTION

Abstract

The peace of the world is more threatened now than ever due to growing activities of terrorist and militia groups. It is also evident that most of these activities are linked to religion which is supposed to propagate and promote peace and peaceful coexistence. The under developed world is the most affected by the activities of these militia and terrorist groups, ironically, it is also the most 'religious' region. On a daily basis in Nigeria you hear reports of armed bandits, terrorist groups, and or herdsmen kidnapping and or killing people. There are debates among Christians especially in Nigeria on what they should do to protect themselves and practice their faith; some are of the view that Christians should buy guns in order to defend themselves, while others are against Christians buying guns. Some Christians have returned to their traditional religion seeking protection through charms, etc and some have become syncretistic in their religious views. What is the way out of this ugly situation? The method this paper adopts is historical analysis method. The findings of this paper are that buying of guns has led to proliferation of guns, thereby making the situation worse, people have lost confidence in religion and have become lukewarm in their religious persuasions, and there is suspicion and decline in trust level among people. Therefore, the paper concludes that two wrongs cannot make right. The key recommendation of this paper is that a biblical or scriptural approach to the problem is the way out.