The Jewish population of Nigeria has been growing by leaps and bounds, doubling over the past five years to encompass an estimated 10,000 people and at least 20 active synagogues. (The origins of Judaism’s presence in Nigeria are disputed, though it seems that Judaism may have spread from North Africa to West Africa and Nigeria several hundred years ago or earlier.)

In 2004, a group called Ansar Allah—also known as the Houthis, after the tribe that dominates the movement—launched an insurgency against the government of Yemen, and in 2014 seized the capital city of Sanaa. Since then, a bloody civil war has engulfed the country, with Iran backing the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and (until recently) the U.S. backing their opponents.