Nigeria – On May 20, six Christian-owned homes and seven stores were burned by a mob of Islamic youths in Nigeria’s northern Bauchi state, injuring approximately 20 people. The youth were looking for Rhoda Jatau, a 40-year-old Christian woman who works as a medical staff member. One Muslim man claimed to have seen a blasphemous comment made by Jatau online and spread the word about said comment to fellow Muslims in the area.

The burnings took place in the town of Katanga, where Jatau had lived. Thankfully, she was able to escape prior to the attack.

Reverend Jibrin Nababa Warji, a pastor located in the area, confirmed that the homes and stores attacked were owned by Christians. Warji lamented the attacks in a statement to Morning Star News, “It is unfortunate and tragic, as many Christians have been forced to flee the town to other areas of Bauchi state. Many displaced Christians are currently staying at the Nigeria Air Force Base.”

Attacks committed against so-called blasphemy have plagued Nigeria in the past month, as Deborah Emmanuel, a Christian college student, was stoned and killed on accusations of blasphemy, catalyzing the destruction of three churches on May 14 in Nigeria’s Sokoto state, after two men involved in her death were arrested.

Rev. Joseph John Hayab, vice-president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Northern Nigeria Chapter, commented on this phenomenon, saying that Muslim accusations of blasphemy were often used to justify attacks on Christians.

“We know and have evidence of how some of these allegations of blasphemy are false and just for blackmail or settling scores with perceived enemies or well-mannered young girls who have refused sexual advances by the opposite sex from another religion,” he said. “We are also aware of how fanatics have in the past raised lies in the name of blasphemy.”
Sources:persecution

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ലണ്ടന്‍: ലോകത്തിന്റെ വിവിധ ഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ പീഡനം അനുഭവിക്കുന്ന ക്രൈസ്തവ സമൂഹത്തിനു വേണ്ടി മെയ് 29നു ഐക്യദാർഢ്യ ദിനമായി ആചരിക്കാൻ അന്തര്‍ദേശീയ സംഘടനയായ റിലീസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ആഹ്വാനം ചെയ്തു. ‘ഓൾ ഔട്ട് ഫോർ ഗോഡ്’ എന്ന പേരില്‍ നടത്തുന്ന ദിനാചരണത്തിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി അന്നേ ദിവസത്തെ ആരാധന ക്രൈസ്തവ വിശ്വാസികൾ ദേവാലയത്തിന് പുറത്ത് നടത്തണമെന്ന് സംഘടന അഭ്യര്‍ത്ഥിച്ചു. ഇതിലൂടെ, ദേവാലയങ്ങൾ തകർക്കപ്പെട്ട ക്രൈസ്തവർക്കും, ആരാധന സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം നിഷേധിക്കപ്പെട്ട ക്രൈസ്തവർക്കും ഐക്യദാർഢ്യം പ്രഖ്യാപിക്കാൻ മറ്റ് വിശ്വാസികൾക്കും അവസരമൊരുക്കുകയെന്നതാണ് സംഘടന ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്നത്.

മുപ്പതോളം രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ സാന്നിധ്യമുള്ള യുകെ ആസ്ഥാനമായി പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന റിലീസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ എല്ലാ വർഷവും ‘ഓൾ ഔട്ട് ഫോർ ഗോഡ്’ എന്ന ക്യാമ്പയിൻ സംഘടിപ്പിക്കാറുണ്ട്. തങ്ങൾക്ക് യുകെയിൽ ആരാധനാലയങ്ങൾ ഉള്ളതുപോലെ, അത് നിഷേധിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന ക്രൈസ്തവ വിശ്വാസികളോട് ഐക്യദാര്‍ഢ്യം പ്രകടമാക്കുകയാണ് തങ്ങളുടെ ലക്ഷ്യമെന്ന് സംഘടനയുടെ സിഇഒ പോൾ റോബിൻസൺ പറഞ്ഞു. റിലീസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ഈ വർഷം പുറത്തുവിട്ട റിപ്പോർട്ടനുസരിച്ച് നൈജീരിയ, അഫ്ഗാനിസ്ഥാൻ, ഇന്ത്യ, ഉത്തര കൊറിയ തുടങ്ങിയ സ്ഥലങ്ങളിൽ ക്രൈസ്തവർക്ക് നേരെയുള്ള അതിക്രമങ്ങൾ വർദ്ധിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഇന്ത്യയിൽ തീവ്ര ഹിന്ദുത്വ വാദികളിൽ നിന്നാണ് ക്രൈസ്തവർ ആക്രമണം നേരിടുന്നതെന്നും നിരവധി സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങൾ മതപരിവർത്തന നിരോധന നിയമം പാസാക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് സംഘടന ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി.

2021ൽ താലിബാൻ ഭരണം പിടിച്ചെടുത്തത് മുതൽ തങ്ങളെ ഒറ്റി കൊടുക്കുമോ എന്നുള്ള ഭയത്തിലാണ്

അഫ്ഗാനിസ്ഥാനിലെ ക്രൈസ്തവ വിശ്വാസികൾ ജീവിക്കുന്നത്. നൈജീരിയയിൽ പ്രധാനമായും ബൊക്കോഹറാം തീവ്രവാദി സംഘടനയിൽ നിന്നും, മുസ്ലിം ഫുലാനി ഗോത്രവർഗ്ഗക്കാരിൽ നിന്നുമാണ് ക്രൈസ്തവർ പീഡനം ഏൽക്കുന്നത്. ഞായറാഴ്ച ദിവസത്തെ ആരാധനയ്ക്കിടയിൽ അഞ്ചു മിനിറ്റ് സമയം ക്രൈസ്തവ സമൂഹത്തിനു വേണ്ടി മൗനം ആചരിക്കാനും സംഘടന അഭ്യർത്ഥന നടത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. #AllOutForGod എന്ന പേരിൽ സാമൂഹ്യ മാധ്യമങ്ങളിൽ ക്യാമ്പയിനിനും റിലീസ് ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ തുടക്കമിട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട്.
കടപ്പാട് :പ്രവാചക ശബ്ദം

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Thousands of churches across Nigeria demanded an end to sectarian killings on Sunday, horrified by the mob assault on a female university student accused of blasphemy. But fearful of more violence, their approach differed significantly—by geography.

“The overwhelming majority of our churches in the south participated, many going to the streets in peaceful protest,” said Testimony Onifade, senior special assistant to the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). “Gathering together, we condemned this gruesome act and demanded the government identify, arrest, and prosecute the culprits.”

But in the north, where Muslims represent the majority of Nigerians, John Hayab described 20 minutes set aside to pray for divine intervention. The president of CAN’s Kaduna state chapter lauded the “solemn” ceremony observed by all northern denominations, amid a ban on protests by local authorities as some Muslims had threatened counterdemonstrations.

Instead, a select group of 120 Christian leaders gathered in a Kaduna city church, guarded by police and security agencies.

There was good reason for caution.

Two weeks ago, in Nigeria’s northwestern-most state of Sokoto, Deborah Samuel was beaten to death and set on fire by fellow students at Shehu Shagari College of Education. Officials and police intervened in vain.

Two students were arrested. Protesting for their release, Muslim supporters proceeded to destroy an additional 11 buildings, descended on Christian shops in the city, and besieged the palace of the sultan of Sokoto who had condemned the May 12 murder.

According to her friend Rakia, Samuel’s last words were, “What do you hope to achieve with this?”

After a colleague shared Islamic material on an exam-prep social media group, Samuel posted an audio recording asking him to remove it. Friends who overheard some Muslim students deeming her response to be blasphemous urged her to retract the statement.

Instead, she responded, “Holy Ghost fire. Nothing will happen to me.”

Gideon Para-Mallam, the former Jos-based Africa ambassador for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, joined demonstrations in the middle-belt Plateau state.

He called for peace and restraint. But also, for an explanation.

“How is it that our young people behaved in this way?” he asked. “All those dreams and hopes for the future, destroyed in a few moments of profound evil.”

Nigerian Christians circulated the video response of a radical imam with a picture of the slain former leader of Boko Haram in the background.

“Anyone who insults the prophet of God, kill him,” the imam said. “Don’t waste time telling the authorities, just kill him.”

It has been a bloody year.

Open Doors, which ranks Nigeria No. 7 on its World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian, tallied 896 civilians killed by Islamic extremists in the first three months of 2022.

Abubakar Shekau was confirmed dead last June, killed in a firefight with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Over 40,000 militants surrendered to the Nigerian government, while a large but unknown number of commanders joined their jihadist rivals.

The same week as Samuel’s murder, ISWAP released a video depicting the execution of 20 Christians.

“Christians around the world should be in awe of the testimony of these men,” stated Jo Newhouse, spokesperson for Open Doors in Sub-Saharan Africa, “who, to the best of our knowledge, held on to their faith even in the face of execution.”

Formed in 2014 to confront ISIS in Syria and Iraq, an 84-nation coalition announced alarm in Africa, where the tempo of affiliate attacks far outpaces the parent organization in the Middle East. The 3,461 sub-Saharan killings in 2021 represent 48 percent of the terrorists’ worldwide total.

And in mid-April, Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed more than 150 Christian farmers in 10 Plateau state communities. While some attribute the attacks to a shortage of resources, Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohamed stated there is now a “sort of holy handshake” between bandits and Boko Haram.

Last year, Open Doors ranked Nigeria an ignoble No. 1 in the categories of Christians killed (4,650) or abducted (2,510), as well as Christians’ homes and shops attacked, for faith-based reasons.

Deborah Samuel put a face on the crisis.

“We see this wicked act as having been facilitated by successive governments failing to respond effectively to religious extremism and violence,” said Para-Mallam. “This impunity has gone on for too long.”

He called for the end of “jungle justice.”

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari promptly criticized those who took the law into their own hands, promising an independent investigation. But former vice president and likely 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar deleted a tweet in which he condemned the killing.

One comment claimed he would lose one million votes in Sokoto.

The original post was shared without his authorization, he said. But while his explanatory statement asserted his ability to take strong stands on issues—including sharia law—he did not comment on the victim.

CAN’s youth wing vowed to withhold votes from any candidate who does not clearly condemn Samuel’s murder. The nonreligious Southern and Middle Belt Alliance stated Abubakar’s insensitivity was “not fitting” for a president.

Under the auspices of Muslims United for Peace and Justice, 13 groups condemned the killing. Para-Mallam expressed appreciation for such sentiment. Hayab said that in the north, such leaders are few and unpopular.

But one of the 13, Muslim Rights Concern, used the opportunity to call for greater implementation of the blasphemy law, and asked for “deep introspection” by Nigeria’s Christian community to ward off intolerance.

It also asked for an investigation into a pastor in the southwest state of Osun, whose remarks in response to Samuel’s killing allegedly insulted Islam and could plunge the entire region into chaos and religious war, according to the Muslim group.

One government official, while condemning the murder, blamed Samuel herself.

“Muslims don’t take insults against [our] beloved prophet,” said Anas Sani, assistant to the finance minister in Sokoto. “May the recklessness of our tongues never drive us to [an] early grave.”

While a manhunt for suspects is ongoing, the two students charged so far face only a two-year jail term for conspiracy and inciting public disturbance.

Regarding blasphemy allegations in Nigeria, Mubarak Bala was sentenced to 24 years in prison in April after pleading guilty. In 2020, Omar Farouq received a 10-year sentence, while Yahaya Aminu was sentenced to death.

All three are Muslims, and the Nigeria Supreme Court overturned the latter two convictions. But it has recognized blasphemy as an offense, punishable by death if established by a court of law.

Onifade chided his nation’s constitution for including sharia law.

“The blasphemy agenda is the latest plot to destroy vulnerable Christian minorities,” he said, placing it in line with Boko Haram terrorists and Fulani herdsmen extremists. “Crafted by Islamists and violent Quran teachers, this conspiracy cannot be ignored by the international community.”

Both Muslims and Christians have fled their homes due to extremist violence, stated the United Nations, with 8.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance in Nigeria’s northwest alone. Half of these face a food crisis.

In response, Hayab called on citizens to arm themselves.

“Nigerian Christians, especially those of northern extraction, have no other option than to defend themselves—from bandits, terrorists, and now religious fundamentalists,” he said, citing previous spurious examples. “They will use every opportunity to kill, on the slightest allegation of blasphemy.”

Para-Mallam, who has founded an eponymous peace foundation, agreed the law licenses certain weapons in certain situations. He has advocated for communities to protect themselves against aggression.

But all must conform to the teaching of Jesus.

“There is a thin line between self-defense and retaliation,” he said. “Just peacemaking must be emphasized first, to promote co-existence.”

The opposite produced a tragedy.

Samuel’s classmates called out desperately for help. Police fired tear gas into the melee, and then shots into the air. They retreated, witnesses stated, when students threw stones and beat them with sticks.

Which were then turned on the accused.

“She pleaded for mercy, but it was far from her,” said Rakia, her friend. “What a cruel way to die.”
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