ABUJA, Nigeria, October 4, 2023 (Morning Star News)
Terrorists on Saturday (Sept. 30) killed one Christian and abducted 19 others in northern Nigeria, a day after gunmen in the country’s southwest intercepted a church bus and kidnapped 25 members.
The assailants on Saturday invaded Kaduna state’s predominantly Christian Angwan Waku village, in the Kufana area of Kajuru County, at 12 a.m., an area resident said.
“A Christian villager was killed during the incident, and 19 other Christians, who include women and children, were kidnapped by the terrorists,” said Ben Yunana in a text message to Morning Star News.
Area resident Tanimu Makaddas, an assistant to the Kufana area leader, identified the slain villager as Kukah Yari.
“Another villager, Aboki Dogo, was shot and wounded,” Makaddas told Morning Star News in a text message. “He’s currently being treated at a hospital.”
Makkaddas identified those kidnapped as Yakubu Abba, Basiru Maiwada, Keziya Silas, Peace Silas, Lami Istifanus, Habila Musa, Bege Liazarus, Joshua Abuki, Juliana Habila, Stella Yohanna, Genesis Ezikiel, Deborah Ezikiel, Salomi Dutse, Rifkatu Zaphaniah, Tamar Liazarus, Ejah Habila, Rejoice Ezikeil, Catharine Silas and Gundu Rubu.
The southern part of Kaduna state, inhabited mainly by Christians, has been under constant attacks from Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists for more than a decade.
Ondo Kidnapping
In southwest Nigeria’s Ondo state, 17 of 25 church members kidnapped on Friday (Sept. 29) remain in captivity after eight escaped their captors, police said.
The members of a Pentecostal church in the Oke Igan area of the city of Akure, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), were on their way to Ifon, Ose County, for a funeral when the terrorists intercepted their bus, said church member Sunday Emmanuel.
“Twenty-five of them were inside the bus traveling through Ifon road when the gunmen stopped their vehicle and marched them inside the bush,” Emmanuel told Morning Star News in a text message, saying eight of them later escaped.
Church leaders confirmed the escape of eight members, saying the terrorists had demanded 50 million naira (US$64,770) for the release of those remaining in captivity. Pastor Benjamin Akanmu, regional superintendent of CAC in Odubanjo, Ondo state, said the church choir was en route to Ifon for a Christian wake for the late father of the church organist.
“At about 4 p.m. on Friday, someone called me that a bus belonging to the church was seen abandoned by the roadside around Elegbeka, and nobody was inside,” Pastor Akanmu said. “The caller said he suspects the passengers have been kidnapped and so we started contacting our members and security agencies. One of those in captivity called to inform me that their abductors are demanding the sum of 50 million naira as ransom. One of the abductors also took the phone from him and said we must provide the 50 million naira immediately if we indeed love our members.”
Adetunji Adeleye, commander of Amotekun, a paramilitary security group in Ondo state, issued a statement on Saturday (Sept. 30) saying the captives had been herded into thick forest near Ifon.
“Eight of the kidnapped Christians, including a nurse, have been rescued after they escaped from the kidnappers’ den,” Adeleye said, adding that personnel from the police, army and other security agencies were searching for the captive Christians.
Police in Ondo state on Saturday (Sept. 30) issued a statement. Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, superintendent of police, said that the church members on the bus had been accosted by “five gunmen who shot sporadically and forcefully took them into the bush.”
The church members who escaped were seven women and one man, he said.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Manuel Augusto Moreno
Article originally published on Morning Star News. Used with permission.
Related podcast:
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
Related video:
Related article:
10 Lessons from a Navajo Christian Missionary
ABUJA, Nigeria, October 4, 2023 (Morning Star News)
Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Sunday (Oct. 1) killed eight Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria, and wounded five others, sources said.
The assailants attacked Du village, in Bassa County’s Kwall District, with two children among those slain and the wounded requiring hospital treatment, said Davidson Malison, spokesman of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), in a press statement.
“The Fulani militias stormed the community at about 8:10 p.m., positioned themselves, and sprayed bullets on the bodies of innocent Christians who were asleep,” Malison said. “To prove the maximum act of wickedness by these terrorists, children of 9 and 11 years were among those killed.”
He called on the Nigerian government to urgently task security personnel to arrest the assailants.
“The terrorists are known to the Nigerian government, and they are not ghosts nor invisible,” he said. “They had made threatening statements particularly to our communities in recent past.”
He identified those slaughtered as Shara Danjuma, 9; Williams Danjuma, 11; Wala Boyi, 17; Yohanna Zehwhie, 35; Avu Goji,18; Tingwie Nko, 38; Afiniki Sunday, 25; and Gani Doglas, 28. Wounded were Tini Thomas, 14; Rondo Peter, 18; Boma Sunday, 45; Geoffrey David, 19; and Joseph Monday, 25.
“We’re not only saddened by this unfortunate development and occurrence but completely depressed and brokenhearted, knowing fully how peaceful and hospitable Christians have lived with their Muslim neighbors in Plateau state,” Malison said.
The attack has enveloped the local community in “tears, sorrow and sadness,” he said.
“This is no doubt the continuation of the destruction of lives and the ceaseless attempts to annihilate Christians of Rigwe ethnic extraction by terrorists and armed herdsmen has kept on persisting,” he said.
In Plateau state’s Atuhun Panyam village, Mangu County, three Christians were killed on Sept. 27, area residents said. Area community leaders Longse Jokle and Joshua Gufwam in a press statement, expressed sadness over continued attacks on Christians in Plateau state.
“We mourn the brutal killing of three of our people in Atuhun Panyam: Panshak Peter, Ishaku Zumuk, and Yakubu Sokyes, by Fulani militias; all of whose corpses have been recovered from their farms where they were attacked,” Jokle and Gufwam said. “They have been buried in their respective villages, which span into Pushit District.”
Jokle and Gufwam, president and secretary, respectively, of the Panyam District Development Association, called on the country’s security agencies to halt attacks on Christians in Plateau state.
“We condemn the killing of the three Christian farmers and call on security agencies to go after the killers,” they said.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married, or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
“Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery,” the WWL report noted. “This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation… Nigeria’s government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians’ rights are carried out with impunity.”
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen's attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam, as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Yorkfoto
Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.
Related podcast:
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
Related video:
Here are 5 danger signs to watch for in your church.
Stock Footage & Music Courtesy of Soundstripe.com Thumbnail by Getty Images
October 3, 2023 (Morning Star News)
A month after a Christian family in Salavan Province, Laos lost their home and were expelled for their faith, officials in another province on Sunday (Oct. 1) disrupted the worship service of a house church and threatened to arrest them, according to a rights group.
In Savannakhet Province’s Khampou village, Assaphone District, the village deputy village chief and local security officials on Sunday (Oct. 1) disrupted the service and ordered church leader Sard Onmeunsee and 17 other Christians to stop the worship, according to Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).
“They were threatened with arrest and a huge fine if they did not follow the officials’ order to discontinue exercising their religious freedom or belief to worship,” HRWLRF said in a press statement.
On the supposition that the church members had angered spirits or gods by leaving them for Christianity, the officials also threatened to impose large fines on the Christians if other people in the village became ill or died. In addition, two Christians from a nearby village who had come to the service were threatened with automatic arrest if they rejoined the church for worship, according to HRWLRF.
After a family in the animist village became the first Christians there in 2019, about 180 Lao villagers accepted Christ over the next two years, HRWLRF stated.
“Thus began pressures and threats from the local government upon Christians, coercing them to give up their religious faith,” the group stated. “The local government subjected Christians to intimidations, threats, and coercion throughout 2022 and 2023, forcing them to abandon their Christian religion until today; only three families (15 Christian believers) from around 180 Christians remained in the Christian faith, led by Mrs. Sard Onmeunsee.”
Home Destroyed
In Salavan Province, a family of seven remains barred from returning to Tabong village, Sa Mouay District, after village governing and security officials on Sept. 3 destroyed their house and placed them in arbitrary detention at a police station for refusing to renounce their faith, according to HRWLRF.
“They are still being barred by village authorities from returning to their village, Tabong,” Sirikoon Prasertsee, director of HRWLRF, told Morning Star News. “Currently they are residing at a temporary shelter at a government school in the Sa Mouay District. They will be allowed back into the village if they give up their Christian faith.”
Tabong officials barred the family’s three school-age children from attending school, according to HRWLRF.
“The family has no home to which to return, and they are facing the risk of starvation,” the group said in a statement.
The Lao family members were identified only as Umvang, 46; his wife Ter, 27; brother Vuang, 30; Alin, 10; Soulin, 7; Rebecca, 3; and Veoy, 10.
Article 30 of the Lao Constitution recognizes the right of citizens “to believe or not to believe in religions.” The U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 18), to which Laos is a signatory, also recognizes the right to freedom of religion, stipulating that the right to manifest, individually or in community with others and in public or private, religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching cannot be impaired by any act, process or power of coercing.
In addition, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the government of Laos in 1991, requires the government to ensure, respect and protect the rights of the Lao children, HRWLRF noted.
“By the acts of aggression in Tabong village, the village authorities have violated Articles 2, 14, 16, 19, 28, and 37 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child,” the group stated. “While the Lao government recognizes the right of the Lao national to freedom of religion or belief, they however restrict freedom to that religious right and punish the Lao family who insist on exercising their right to religious freedom to believe in the Christian religion.”
The HRWLRF urged the Lao government to respect the Lao Constitution.
Laos ranked 31st in Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List (WWL) of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, saying Communist authorities consider most church meetings “illegal gatherings,” and Christians live under intense scrutiny.
“In Laos, some churches are registered and heavily monitored, but others cannot get permission to meet and have to operate secretly,” the WWL report stated. “The leaders of unregistered churches have been arrested and held for as long as a year; their families and churches have to pay huge sums of money for their release. In most cases, local authorities are the source of persecution, frequently cooperating with the community and families.”
If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Sirachai Arunrugstichai / Stringer
Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.
Related podcast:
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
Related video:
Here are 5 danger signs to watch for in your church.
Stock Footage & Music Courtesy of Soundstripe.com Thumbnail by Getty Images
