Keir Starmer under pressure to tackle Christian persecution after Islamist massacre of 270 exposes 'blind-spot'

More than 40 Fulani Islamists arrived in Yelwata late at night on motorbikes, shouting "Allahu Akbar" as they rampaged through the village.

However, it has been claimed that the Foreign Office initially dismissed the suggestion that the attack was religiously motivated.

Elliot Banks, parliamentary officer at Aid to Church in Need UK, told a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference: "The response I got back from the Nigerian desk at the Foreign Office, from our Government, was religion is playing no role in this, there is no evidence that religion played a role in this.

"It's patently untrue. I wrote back and I said, 'Look, we've got the evidence, we've spoken to the parish priest. We then got a bit of a better answer, but not very satisfactory, when they said, 'Well, it might be playing a role, but there are other factors."

Mr Banks, who admitted it is a multi-faceted conflict, stressed that the victims are predominantly Christian and churches have been disproportionately targeted.

He also set out recommendations for Sir Keir’s Government to tackle Christian persecution in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"The UK taxpayer is currently paying £35million into the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria scheme.

"It's designed to improve community relations and strengthen security apparatus in Nigeria to stop these kinds of attacks.

"The problem is, Benue is a focus area, but it's getting no money, when it's clearly one of the worst-affected places.

"Benue, Plateau State, all of these in the middle belt, where the predominantly Muslim north and Christian south meet, they are not doing anything about that."

Mr Banks went on to claim that Benue was not a recipient of humanitarian aid from the United Kingdom.

"We would like to see some of that aid money used properly in places like Benue and the Plateau State," Mr Banks added.

Fiona Fearon, head of advocacy at campaign group Open Doors, is also hoping to put pressure on Sir Keir by gathering signatures for her Arise Africa petition.

Ms Fearon told attendees: "The aim is to collect one million signatures, it's a global campaign, and present it to No10 next year."

Research conducted by Open Doors, a campaign group which co-hosted this morning's prayer with Conservative Christian Fellowship and Aid to Church in Need, found that Nigeria is the seventh most dangerous country in the world for Christians.

North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Eritrea all finished above Nigeria, with Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan all trailing closely behind.

Despite nearly half of the African country identifying as Christian, more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.

Nigeria's middle belt and north-eastern states have become particularly associated with Islamist violence against Christians.

Fulani terrorists have been known to destroy churches and carry out kidnappings against the Christian community.

Plateau State witnessed a horrific massacre on Black Christmas in 2023, with 200 Christians being killed and eight churches being burned to the ground.

The Prime Minister is currently in India, where he is expected to tout the benefits of a recently agreed trade deal.

However, India also ranked highly when it comes to Christian persecution, coming in just behind Afghanistan in eleventh.

Activists point out that twelve Indian states have now passed anti-conversion laws, with Uttar Pradesh making the punishment for this offence as severe as life imprisonment.

Two major attacks also took place in India last year. A mob of around 200 people attacked a church in Telangana in February last year, leaving 14 members injured.

A second attack resulted in a Christian man being killed in Chhattisgarh in May 2024.

Shadow Development Minister Wendy Morton and ex-faith tsar David Burrows also appeared at this morning's prayer breakfast at the Britannia Hotel in Manchester.

Addressing the prospect of calling for sanctions, Ms Morton said: "It is important for those of us in opposition to hold the Government’s feet to the fire, that’s what our role is.

"We often do raise the issue of sanctions, and this morning has been very helpful to me to get perhaps a deeper understanding of some of the challenges that Christians face."

Mr Burrows, who represented Enfield Southgate in the House of Commons from 2005 to 2017, went on to reveal the "ugly" side of the Foreign Office.

He explained: "There is a blind spot to religion, and it happens across Government.

"The lack of religious literacy, the reluctance to call out the obvious of the targeting of Christians and other religious or belief minorities."

Mr Burrows added: "The other blind spot is development, and aid is deliberately a blind spot.

"It's supposed to be in the blind of creed, but it does mean that churches and Christian NGOs are left to help the vulnerable and displaced and not be partnered with."

GB News has approached the Foreign Office for comment.

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