Nigeria, Oct. 13 -- The United States of America recently declared that there was a religious war, specifically the persecution of Christians, going on in Nigeria. The Nigerian government promptly denied the claim. But the basic truth is that, whereas one may not want to join habitual pyromaniacs in further setting the country on fire, there is an undeclared war going on in Nigeria. And it has to be confronted headlong.

As many senior government officials have always claimed, some of the inter-ethnic violence, especially in the North, has been caused by ancient hate inspired by old quarrels over access to land or forest resources.

No one can doubt that some of the attacks against churches, especially by Boko Haram elements, tend to give...