The situation for Christians right now is dire. Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, with more than 5,500 Christians martyred last year alone.

According to International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), more than 90 percent of the Christians martyred last year were Nigerian.

“There are more Christian martyrs in Nigeria than anywhere else on earth. Ninety percent of Christians who have been killed for their faith over the last year have been murdered in Nigeria,” said Megan Meador to CRUX online publication.  Megan is the Communications officer for Alliance Defending Freedom International.

Nigeria’s Constitution explicitly forbids the federal and state governments from establishing a state religion, forbids religious prejudice, and guarantees people’s right to freely choose, practice, spread, or modify their faith, but many Muslims in Nigeria do not agree with the constitution and instead push for Islamic Law.

The Nigerian Constitution provides strong protection for religious freedom, equal to that provided under international law, but the devil is in the details. Areas with Islamic majorities openly disregard the constitution and set up their own criminal Sharia law courts. “We’ve had cases where Christians have been hauled in front of Sharia courts, without jurisdiction, and accused of crimes like apostasy, which is not supposed to be a crime in Nigeria,” Megan said.

One of the major problems with Nigeria is that the majority of the wealth and education is in the Christian south, while the north is home to the more conservative Muslims. Although the most prosperous areas of Nigeria are primarily Christian, the majority of the population, 53%, is Muslim and the primary leadership is also Muslim.

Nigeria’s president is Muslim and the vice president is from the north of the country, which is the area where the majority of violence against Christians is taking place. This has been a point of controversy, as it clearly creates a sense of sympathy for the jihadi causes of the northern Islamic tribesmen and possibly provides answers to why there is almost nothing being done about the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s population is on track to overtake the US by 2050.