Attackers stabbed to death the wife of a Nigerian pastor last week after she reportedly insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
According to The Christian Post, Bridget Abahime, 74, was followed and killed at a market in Kano. Nigerian police have said that they have arrested two suspects in the murder.
"This barbarism must stop now," said the Christian Association of Nigeria’s spokesman, the Rev. John Hayab.
Also, the Muslim Rights Concern said the violence was “preposterous, barbaric and unIslamic."
Said Nigeria’s Muslim President Mohammadu Buhari: “"Let us ensure that we keep the peace, as justice will be done. Let us learn to respect each other's faith, so that we can know each other and live together in peace."
Christian pastors in the area have experienced much of the violence. In April, a church official was kidnapped and killed for preaching to Muslims.
But churches are not the only places being targeted. Extremists have killed about 500 Christian farmers in Benue state in central Nigeria over land disputes.
"Entire villages were burned down completely by Fulani herdsmen. Unidentified corpses of these Christians were discovered, properties were looted by these Fulani invaders,” a Christian witness said. “As I speak to you, Fulani herdsmen are living in the deserted villages. I couldn't believe what my eyes saw."
Open Doors, the persecution watchdog group, has also reported that the killing of Christians in Nigeria has jumped by 62 percent in about a year.
Publication date: June 7, 2016
