The study focused on the challenges that confront the Church as a result
of the expression of Islamic extremism in the northern region of
Nigeria. Due to the region's intractable violence, we examined the
relationship that exists between Christians and Muslims as the adherents
of the region's two major religions, and the Boko Haram, its origin, and
modus operandi. To this end, we revealed that the relationship is
characterised by suspicion, distrust, and hate which lead to violence
and thus the destruction of lives and properties. The study's method was
historical, expository and evaluative. We used qualitative methodology
to generate the work's data which were the primary sources, while Church
documents, Nigerian Catholic Bishops' communiques, library research and
other relevant materials were the secondary sources. The findings
revealed that the Church continues to face challenges that includes;
Islamic fundamentalism that often give rise to violence in which lives
and properties are often destroyed, denial of religious freedom, refusal
of lands for building of Churches, Christian cemeteries, Mission Schools
etc. We thus, recommended that government, religious and traditional
leaders, and all stakeholders must make the deliberate concerted efforts
toward realising the enabling environment that will bring peaceful
co-existence in the region. We concluded that interreligious dialogue
among Christians and Muslims in the region with the attention to
dialogue of life among the commoners cannot be overemphasized.
