Over 50 Christian and Muslims leaders came together to sign the accord August 13 in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, reports The Christian Post.
The agreement was organized by a Saudi-based group called the Muslim World League, that describes itself as representing a tolerant and peaceful side of Islam.
An interfaith body was also launched to promote the cooperation between the two groups across the country.
While the agreement was signed two weeks ago, Brad Brandon, founder and CEO of Across Nigeria, says it's not the first time something like this has been tried.
“The effectiveness of that is in question to me because these kinds of things have been done before,” Brandon warns.
For years, he says, Islamic terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISIL have targeted Christians in Northern Nigeria, often paying off Fulani herdsmen, who also slaughter other Muslims over land disputes.
Todd Nettleton, of Voice of the Martyrs, is also watching the attempt at peace unfold. He tells AFN representatives from the Islamic terrorist groups were not included in the talks.
"Why would Boko Haram care if there's disagreement between some Muslim leaders and some Christian leaders?" Nettleton stresses.
It is obviously a positive thing that Muslim leaders have reached out to Christian leaders to end the violence, Nettleton says, but like Brandon he remains skeptical.
"Is this peace agreement going to filter down to that imam, and to that guy in the village, or not? And if it doesn't, then it really doesn't make a difference," he warns.
According to Brandon, the Nigerian government turns a blind eye to the violence.
“The Nigerian government still denies that this violence is targeted against Christians, even though Christians are right now five times more likely to be killed than any other group in Nigeria,” Brandon states.
But he also says the violence has cost the government a lot of investment dollars, which it is keen to recover.
“The Nigerian government signed a $9 million contract with this PR firm to whitewash their image because in 2024, they lost about $540 million in foreign investors,” Brandon says.
At least 54 Christians, he says, have been murdered in the last two weeks since the so-called "Peace Accord" was signed.
“It's getting worse. I have just gotten back within the last three weeks. I spent three and a half months there, and it's the worst that I've ever seen it,” Brandon says.
According to Across Nigeria, 72% of all Christians killed worldwide were in Nigeria, and they are 6.5 times more likely to be killed than any other group in the nation.
