The return of Iraq’s Christians to their places of origin following the defeat of Islamic State could serve as a viable model for responding to the crisis facing Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Catholic leaders are actively advocating for the right of return of internally displaced people.
The historical return of Iraq’s Christians and the Nineveh initiative
On 6 August 2014, the Islamic State swept through the Nineveh Plains, the ancestral homeland of Iraqi Christians, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee overnight to Erbil and other regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. For the following three years, thousands of families lived in caravans in displacement centres, rented flats, or host families. Following the liberation of Mosul, Qaraqosh, and surrounding villages, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) promoted and supported the “Return to the Roots” project to rebuild homes, churches, and schools, allowing Christian life to flourish once again.
Reflecting on this successful precedent, Mark von Riedemann, ACN’s Director of Public Affairs and Religious Freedom, stated:
“In Iraq, ACN and its Church partners made history when, between 2017 and 2019, more than 50% of internally displaced people returned to nine villages in the Nineveh Plains that ISIS had destroyed. This event is clearly remembered by several organisations, with some even referring to Nineveh as the most successful return of internally displaced people in recent history”.
Forced displacement crisis in Nigeria’s Middle Belt
Thousands of kilometers away, millions of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are caught in a violent cycle of forced displacement caused by frequent attacks from radicalized Fulani nomadic herders. These herders, who are traditionally Muslim, seek control of fertile land for grazing, adding religious tensions to an explosive ethnic mix.
In Benue State, over two million people are currently displaced, 98% of whom are Christians. While the Nigerian Government proposes a resettlement policy, the local Church insists on enabling displaced people to return to their ancestral lands, arguing that government resettlement would unjustifiably perpetuate demographic changes.
Father Remigius Ihyula, a priest from the Diocese of Makurdi, explained the severe toll on survivors:
“Survivors living in camps or host communities have been forced to adopt unsafe coping mechanisms in order to survive, including child labour, prostitution and child marriage. We have also seen an increase in drug use and trafficking”.
Father Remigius warned that future generations remain compromised due to a school dropout rate over 90%, a complete absence of healthcare facilities, and a lack of trauma counselling.
Structural Church collaboration to end camp culture
ACN believes that similar success can be achieved in Nigeria if the government works directly with local Church structures and receives international support. A successful model in Benue could eventually be applied to other areas facing mass displacement, such as Borno State.
Father Remigius highlighted the ultimate goal of the initiative:
“We must move beyond the ‘camp culture’ and restore the dignity of the people of Benue in order to restore the entire social and economic fabric. The objective is simple: to help our people become self-reliant on the lands of their ancestors, where they have their roots and which they have cultivated for centuries”.
