70 Mosques, 0 Churches
The Rev. Barnabas Sabo, pastor of the ECWA church in Gusau town, concurred that local governments are using sharia to deny churches land.
Towns denied lands for building churches include Mada, from which Rev. Sabo's church members have to trek more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) to Talata Mafara to attend worship services.
Other towns and villages where the ECWA church has been denied land are Kasuwa Daji, Dansadau, Tsibiri in Talata Mafara, and in the Bakura area.
"Gov. Sani, in six years of introducing sharia in the state, has used public funds to build well over 70 mosques," Rev. Sabo said. "Yet no single church has been built by this same government. How fair is this?"
Apart from denial of lands to churches in Zamfara state, Christians have encountered difficulties in other sectors, such as education, where discriminatory school fees have been forced on Christian students and pupils, and there is no teaching of what is known in Nigerian schools as Christian Religious Knowledge.
There is no employment for Christians in the public service, and a ban has been placed on Christian radio and television programs.
The imposition of sharia in criminal matters in 12 northern states has resulted in numerous conflicts bringing death to thousands of persons, most of them Christians.
"If there is anything anybody can do to hurt me, it is for such a person to stop me from serving God the way I want and to stop me from sharing my faith," Bishop Danbinta said. "This is precisely what we as Christians are experiencing in Zamfara state."
Copyright 2006 Compass Direct
Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may be reprinted by active subscribers only.
