Parents Torn over Loss of Daughter in Nigeria

Catholic troubled by Muslim college instructor disappears in volatile northeast.

BAUCHI, Nigeria, March 22 (CDN) — Nearly seven months after their 24-year-old daughter disappeared during a wave of Islamic extremist violence here, Helen and Dakim Gyang Bot can only assume that the voice on the other end of her cell phone that told them “we have killed her” was telling the truth.


The body of Simi Maltida Kim has not been found, and those who answered the active Catholic’s cell phone shortly after she disappeared on Sept. 1, 2011 did not indicate why they killed her. But there are signs that she was one of the hundreds of victims of Islamic extremist violence in northern Nigeria last year that has driven thousands of Christians to flee.


The Bots live in an undisclosed town near Jos, in Plateau state, but their daughter was a final-year student of Science Laboratory Technology at the Federal Polytechnic, in northeastern Nigeria’s Bauchi state. She had told them of an instructor there who humiliated her because of her Christian faith, they said.


“She told us that this Muslim teacher would summon her and then question her faith, or even bring in some Muslim students to confront her over her Christian faith,” said her mother, Helen Bot. “When she told us this, we advised her to keep away from the Muslim teacher as much as possible.”


The problem came to a head when the instructor failed her on a written exam without even looking at it, she said.


“This Muslim teacher did this to force our daughter into submitting to recanting her Christian faith, but this did not deter her from remaining firm as a Christian,” Helen Bot said.


Kim retook the exam. Right after turning it in, again the Muslim teacher took her answer sheet and followed her out of the examination hall, telling her that he would never allow her to pass his course.


“The Muslim teacher tore her answer sheet in the presence of other students,” Helen Bot said. “And, disturbed about this sad threat to her, Simi reported the matter to her school supervisor and the head of the Department of Science Laboratory Technology. She also phoned us to inform us about her plight in the school. We asked her to report the issue to appropriate authorities in the school and then return home.”


Officials at the Federal Polytechnic in Bauchi declined to comment on the matter.


On Sept. 1, Simi told her friends in school that she was returning to the Jos area. Her mother phoned her that day and was surprised that she did not answer. She told Compass that it was the first time her daughter had never picked up the call.


“We communicated on the phone almost on a daily basis, and whenever I called her, even if she was sleeping, she would wake up and call me back,” she said. “So it was unusual that day when I phoned her several times and she did not respond.”


Dakim Gyang Bot, Kim’s 59-year-old father, told Compass that when she did not return home the next day, the family was all the more anxious because news had filtered into town that Christians were being killed in Bauchi city.


“We phoned her, and instead, someone answered the phone,” he said. “The voice was that of a male Muslim – we were able to know this from his accent; the man spoke to us in Hausa language, confirming our fears that he must be a Muslim. He refused to tell us where our daughter was.”


The family immediately contacted two of her Christian friends in Bauchi, who searched for her without success, he said. They sent back word, however, that Muslim extremists had killed some Christians there on the day Kim was to leave for the Jos area.


“Her friends were told at the Bauchi motor park that some Christians who had got to the motor park on that day were killed by some militant Muslims,” Bot said.


The family reported the disappearance to police and the State Security Service and continued to call her mobile phone, in hopes that someone would answer again. Someone did. This time, a female with a similar Hausa accent said, “Don’t ever call this phone number again – we have killed her, so stop wasting your time looking for her,” her father said.


The priest at the family’s Catholic church told Compass that Kim might well have been killed by Muslim extremists in Bauchi.


“We learned that many Christians were killed in Bauchi at that time, so we are convinced that she must have been killed, too,” he said.


He described Kim and her parents as faithful and prayerful.


“In fact, in the past six months, her parents have been on their knees praying for her even with the knowledge that she must have been killed by Muslim militants,” he said.


Born Feb. 12, 1987, Kim was active in the Legion of Mary and the fellowship of Catholic students while at Bauchi Federal Polytechnic. A membership certificate from Christ the King Catholic Chaplaincy in Bauchi commends her as a distinguished member of the Catholic fellowship who was actively involved in the activities of the Legion of Mary.


Attacks on Christians in Bauchi state date back to 1958, but the recent incursion of Boko Haram has resulted in the killings of a dozen pastors and hundreds of Christians, sources said. Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro local government areas, which are mainly inhabited by Christians, have become the targets of attacks by Boko Haram sect members and Muslim Fulani herdsmen.


Boko Haram seeks to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) on Nigeria. The name Boko Haram translates loosely as “Western education is forbidden.”


On Jan. 22, two church buildings were bombed by Boko Haram in Bauchi city. The two churches, Evangelical Church Winning All 2 and St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, are located in the Fadaman Mada area near the town’s railway station. On the same day, Boko Haram members attacked Tafawa Balewa town, killing six Christians.


Other major towns and local government areas where Christians have been attacked and their church buildings destroyed are Bauchi, Alkaleri, Toro, Bulkachuwa, Misau, Darazo, and Azare.


In October and November 2011, 25 Boko Haram sect members were arrested in a training camp in Bauchi, where they were preparing to attack Christians. Security agencies recovered 435 rounds of ammunitions, 26 pistols, a pump action machine gun, and many explosive devices from the Islamists.


Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.


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Nigeria: Boko Haram Kills Four Christians and Threatens Village Attacks

This home-grown terrorist group is conducting a brutal campaign that has claimed the lives of many Christians in Nigeria, and the killing continue

By Dan Wooding, who was born in Nigeria
He is the Founder of ASSIST Ministries

YORBA LINDA, CA (ANS) -- Boko Haram gunmen on Thursday, January 12, 2012, shot dead four Igbo Christian men in Potiskum town in Yobe State, and threatened to launch an attack on two nearby villages later that evening.

Boko Haram gunmen

“The four men were reportedly shot in a vehicle as they were migrating southwards to rejoin their families, who had already moved to that area to escape the violence. Previous attempts to join them had been hampered by the indefinite general strike against fuel subsidy removal, which has brought the nation to a halt,” said a spokesperson for UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

“On the same day, Boko Haram also threatened to attack Kukargadu and Dagare villages, both of which have large populations of indigenous Christians. However, extra security personnel were deployed to the villages, which were consequently kept safe through the night.”

The CSW spokesperson went on that say that on Tuesday, eight men and a woman were killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Potiskum. All nine are thought to have been Christians. The group, which included a lecturer at the Federal College of Education/Technical in Potiskum, four policemen and a young man employed by Jam'a Clinic, were in a bar in the Dorawa Ward when they were shot at by gunmen who escaped on motorcycles. On the previous day, two Christians were also shot at by gunmen on a motorcycle in the Barracks area of Potiskum, but escaped unhurt by falling to the ground and playing dead.

A 24-hour curfew has now been imposed in Yobe, and motorcycles have been banned due to Boko Haram’s regular usage of these vehicles.

The deteriorating security situation has led to rising speculation that Yobe State could soon be entirely emptied of its Christian population as entire lorry-loads of people have been departing the state. One source, who informed CSW-Nigeria he was assisting over two hundred families of indigenous Christians with relocation, said, “If this continues unabated, in the next few months or weeks there may be no Christians in Yobe State. Though our houses, jobs and churches are here, we have no choice but to leave”

.

In several instances, added the CSW spokesperson, fuel subsidy removal protests are being used for alternative agendas.

On Tuesday, a fuel protest in Gusau, Zamfara State, degenerated into an attack on Ebenezer Baptist Church as rioters removed equipment and other valuables from the premises and set them on fire. A 24-hour curfew was imposed in Kaduna City and its environs yesterday, after Muslim youths went to the governor's official residence on Tuesday claiming they wanted to seize control.

On Wednesay, a 6am to 6pm curfew was imposed in Niger State after rioting broke out in the capital, Minna, and the governor's campaign headquarters was attacked.

Meanwhile, retaliatory attacks on Hausa-Fulani neighborhoods in Benin City in southern Nigeria on 9 and 10 January during fuel protests resulted in five deaths, mass displacement and the destruction of an Islamic School attached to the central mosque. This worrying development follows a week of violent events in Adamawa State that left at least 37 people dead in which southerners were specifically targeted.

Mervyn Thomas

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “CSW is deeply grieved by the continuing deaths, injuries and displacements across Nigeria. The fact that an entire local Christian population is being forced to flee from their homes and the deliberate targeting of the Igbo population by a terrorist group are appalling manifestations of religious and ethnic cleansing. We call on the state and federal officials and security agents to do everything in their power to end Boko Haram’s reign of terror and bring an end to the ongoing violence, which constitutes an immediate threat to the unity of this multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Note: Boko Haram, is a terrorist organization based in the north east of Nigeria, in the areas predominated by the Kanuri ethnic group founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2001or 2002, the group is a Muslim sect that seeks to “abolish the secular system and establish an Islamic state” and “establish Sharia system of government in the country.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, emailkiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

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Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books, one of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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Christian Areas of Jos, Nigeria Bombed, Killing One

Explosions hit three TV viewing centers during high-profile soccer match.

By Obed Minchakpu

 

JOS, Nigeria, December 15 (Compass Direct News) – Joshua Dabo, like other young Christians in this city in central Nigeria, had dreams for his life. He had graduated from a Christian high school, Mt. Olives Secondary School, and at 31 was finally looking forward to attending university.

 

Apart from commitment to his fellowship at Nasara Baptist Church at Tirji Junction near the University of Jos, Dabo ran a barbershop to earn income as he awaited admission to college, and he was an ardent soccer player and fan.

 

As such he made sure to be among the 120 people from the Christian community on Bauchi Ring Road who paid to watch a classic soccer rivalry, Barcelona FC v. Real Madrid, on TV at an outdoor bar (called a “viewing center” in Nigeria) on Saturday night (Dec. 10). A few minutes into the match, televised in the hall of corrugated sheet metal at Yangwava Television Viewing Center at Ukadum village, a bomb went off.

 

“It was shocking for me,” said viewing center owner Emmanuel Exodus Nimkun, 30, of the Ukadum congregation of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). “I saw Joshua Dabo standing without a head. I have never seen a thing like this – a human being standing but with his head blasted off, and he was struggling to move.”

 

Dabo was the lone fatality in three bomb blasts targeting viewing centers in predominantly Christian areas of Jos during the Spanish soccer match; at least 10 others were injured in the blasts, leaving four in critical condition, including two in a coma.

 

Nimkun told Compass that he was bleeding and his back was hurt after the explosion, but he held Dabo and brought him down.

 

“I began to cry, and suddenly there were shouts that another bomb was hidden in a bag beside the viewing hall that had not exploded,” he said. ‘We all ran out, and then a policeman came to the scene. He picked up courage and went to check the bag, and the device was intact.”

 

A few minutes later, military personnel arrived and took the device away, he said.

 

“They told us that the battery of the device had run out, and that that was the reason it did not explode,” Nimkun said. “If it had exploded, they told us, the destruction could have been massive.”

 

Nimkun said his cousin was badly injured and was among six people taken to Jos University Teaching Hospital.

 

A worker with the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, Nimkun said he opened the TV viewing center for additional income, never considering that it would become a target for Muslim extremists. The culprits were unknown at press time, but the area has a history of Christian-Muslim conflict.

 

“I cannot reconstruct that place again, because it will keep reminding us of that sad incident – if only for the remembrance of Dabo, I will not reopen that place again,” he said. “This is a person killed not because he has done anything wrong but because he is a Christian.”

 

Danladi Dabo, Joshua Dabo’s older brother and a member of Nasara Baptist Church, said he was at home when he first heard an explosion at another viewing center, in Jos’ Tina Junction area.

 

“Knowing that my brother is a soccer fan, I raced to the viewing center near our house to alert them, but just about 100 meters to the place, my fears were confirmed as a bomb exploded,” Dabo said. “I was dazed by the explosion, but I kept running there, knowing that my brother was in there. On getting there I found my brother’s body but with no head. I was shocked.”

 

Family members buried Joshua Dabo on Sunday (Dec. 11).

 

Danladi Dabo said that Christians in Jos have reached out to their Muslim neighbors, but Muslims seem uninterested in peaceful relations with Christians.

 

“The government has urged us to live peacefully with each other, but while we Christians have accepted to live peacefully with Muslims, they have continued to attack us,” Dabo said. “I pray and urge the Nigerian government to take decisive steps to stop these killings, now that they know that Muslims are the aggressors.”

 

Damaged House

One of the survivors of the attack, 22-year-old Gift Danjuma of Zumunci Baptist Church in the Ukadum area, told Compass that her family has lost four members to religious conflict in Jos in the past three years.

 

“I thank God that I survived this attack, but this is becoming too much for us,” she said. “In the last three years we’ve had four members of our family killed – Umaru Haruna, Salami Mainoma Dutse, Esther Ishaya, and Ruth Danladi.”

 

Muslim extremists killed Haruna, Ishaya and Danladi as they returned from work in 2008, while Dutse was killed in 2010 while returning from a church activity, she said.

 

“Unless the Nigerian government does something urgently to curtail these attacks on us Christians by Muslims, we will get to the point that Christians will have no other option than to fight back in order to stay alive,” Danjuma said.

 

At Tina Junction along the Bauchi Ring Road in Jos, where the first bomb exploded, Hiroshima Ishaku Nyam, a member of the Jos Jarawa COCIN congregation, told Compass that his house was damaged by the bomb at the TV viewing center opposite his house.

 

“I was sleeping when the sound of a loud explosion woke me up,” Nyam said. “The entire house was shaking and vibrating. Suddenly the ceiling in my bedroom and the living room caved in.”

 

He switched on a flashlight but could hardly see anything, he said.

 

“There was dust all over,” Nyam said. “I struggled until I found my way out of the room. It was then that I heard people outside our house shouting that a bomb had exploded at the TV viewing center opposite our house.”

 

Nyam said his family had travelled to Abuja for a church program, so he was able to restrain himself from running out to check on them. Some 20 minutes later, he heard gunshots outside, confirming his resolve to stay inside.

 

Ironically, he said, the University of Jos had organized a peace meeting that brought together area Christians and Muslims a few meters from one of the bombed viewing centers.

 

Nyam said that after the bombings, it will be difficult for Christians to trust Muslims again.

 

“How will Christians be convinced that Muslims really want genuine reconciliation in the face of the bombings and secret killings of members of Christian communities going on in the city of Jos?” he said.

 

The third TV viewing center bombed is located opposite the University of Jos Staff Quarters along Bauchi Ring Road. It is also a few meters away from a Christian ministry known as City of David.

 

James Daniel, 22, an apprentice carpenter and a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All Nasarawa Gwong congregation, told Compass that about 100 Christians were watching the soccer game at the TV viewing center.

 

Daniel, whose carpentry workshop is near the TV viewing center, said the bombs planted at Tina Junction and Ukadum went off first.

 

“Most of the viewers here are Christian students of the University of Jos who reside here,” he said. “Thank God none of them died, as most of them only sustained injuries.”

 

Daniel said that ever since the Christmas Eve bombings in the Angwan Rukuba area of Jos last year, Muslims have targeted Christians through bombings or secret killings.

 

Plateau state has seen religious conflict since 2001.

 

END

 

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Three Christians Killed in Attacks in Nigeria’s Kaduna State

Armed Muslim gang raids church, neighboring village; 8-year-old among 13 injured.

By Obed Minchakpu

 

ZONKWA, Nigeria, November 8 (Compass Direct News) – It was a few minutes before 10 at night when the staccato sound of gunfire interrupted the serene worship of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church near Zonkwa, Kaduna state. When the chaos ended, two women lay dead and 12 people were wounded.

 

The attack by a Muslim extremist gang in Tabak 1 village on Thursday (Nov. 3) shattered the peace long known to Christians there, area sources said. The following night at about the same time, the gang raided another Christian community near Zonkwa, Kurmin-Bi, killing one Christian and injuring another.

 

While the Islamic extremist Boko Haram was responsible for several attacks that killed at least 150 people in Borno and Yobe states in Nigeria’s northeast over the weekend, Christians in Tabak 1 village in northern Nigeria’s centrally located Kaduna state said the church attack appeared to come from a Muslim gang not affiliated with the terrorist group.

 

The two women killed were Justina Zugwai Isaac, 28, and Hassana Luka, 39. A Roman Catholic seminary student who was leading worship at the time, 32-year-old Emmanuel Mallam, said it was a miracle that only the two women died in the attack.

 

Unaware that the attackers were hidden in the bushes around the church building, the two women were outside the building when they were shot, Mallam said. He had asked parishioner Julius Jacob, 38, to make closing remarks when the shooting began.

 

“As these Muslims began shooting, they shot Mrs. Justina Isaac, a mother of three, who had all the while been hanging around by the window outside the church listening to my teachings in the church,” he said. “And when she was felled by the bullets, the cry of her baby attracted another woman, Mrs. Hassana Luka, who came out of her house close to the church to find out what the problem was, only to be killed too.”

 

Before the attack, Mallam had asked all women and children in the church to return to their homes for safety reasons, but Zugwai Isaac had remained near the window listening to the teaching, he said.

 

“I asked the women and children to leave because it was getting late, and we had already had two hours of teaching on this very important topic,” he said. “So, the women and children left the church, and I and about 50 men stayed behind to round up our discussion on the topic.”

 

Mallam said he was leading a talk about the significance of the Eucharist in the church when the Muslim assailants, “who must have laid ambush around the church for a while,” opened fire into the church building

 

“I was dazed and confused, as I have never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “All over I could see bullets flying around us with fire. I ducked and ran blindly, not knowing where I was running to, until I found a window and jumped out of the church. That was how I escaped being killed.”

 

Mallam said he fled as the firing continued, running to nearby Aduwan village to alert the community about the attack in his community.

 

“While there, I phoned a fellow seminarian, Kelvin Dominic, whose older brother is military personnel and was in the village at the time,” he said. “Dominic in turn informed his soldier brother about the attack, and he too reported the incident to his military colleagues manning the numerous road-blocks in the area.”

 

Mallam said the soldiers evacuated both the injured and the dead to the St. Louis Catholic Hospital in Zonkwa.

 

The injured were identified as 8-year-old Shadrack Luka; Jacob Kazah; Jacob Achi; Patrick Markus; Anthony Luka; Timothy Jacob; Sunday Julius; Ishaya Jacob; Christopher Anthony; Joseph Jacob; Happy Ishaya (another woman also shot outside the church building); and Ayuba Dabo.

 

Mallam said the church has suspended both early morning and evening mass as his parishioners fear another attack.

 

“It appears that there is no government in Nigeria,” he said. “If not, how can Christians be slaughtered in northern Nigeria and the government is unable to stop this carnage?”

 

Ishaku Luka, village head of Tabak 1, told Compass that his people were peace-loving and have never had any conflicts with area Muslims.

 

“I wonder why we should now become the target of their attacks,” he said. “We are sad about this attack, as it has affected us negatively. I want to appeal to the Nigerian government to take immediate measures to halt these attacks by Muslims on Christians.”

 

Luka said one of the women killed, Hassana Luka, had recognized one of her attackers as a Muslim who had once lived in the area.

 

“She called his name as Ado Ali before she was killed, and Anthony, who was hidden nearby, heard her calling the name,” Luka told Compass.

 

In Kurmin-Bi, another predominantly Christian village near Zonkwa, eyewitness Bitrus Musa told Compass that the attack took place at about 10 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 4).

 

“Three Christian friends, Hassan Peter, Sunday Bayil, and Anthony Yariyet, had met at Yariyet’s house and were chatting when, suddenly, Muslim gunmen emerged from bushes around the house to attack them,” Musa said. “Hassan Peter was shot on the head, and he died instantly, while my brother, Sunday Bayil, was shot on his legs.”

 

Again soldiers were alerted, and they arrived to remove Peter’s body and the injured Bayil to the St. Louis Catholic Hospital.

 

Musa said there was no doubt that the assailants were Muslim extremists; he said the gang members phoned area residents on Saturday (Nov. 5) warning Christians of another attack.

 

“They told us through a phone call that they will be returning again to attack us,” Musa said.

 

The Kaduna state assaults were similar to the guerrilla method Muslim extremists have used to attack Christian communities in Bauchi and Plateau states in Nigeria. They strike, kill members of a family or a group of Christians, and then withdraw, only to strike again in another community as military personnel are struggling to defend the previously attacked community.

 

Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

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Muslim Extremists from Niger Help Kill Christians in Nigeria

Boy, 10, and security guard for local official among those slain.

By Obed Minchakpu

KADUNA, Nigeria (Compass Direct News) – Armed Muslims from Niger entered Nigeria’s Kaduna state this month to help Islamists there invade Christian communities, where they killed two Christians, including a 10-year-old boy, area sources said.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 21, the Muslim extremists entered Fadiya Bakut village in Bajju district of the Zango-Kataf Local Government Area, and attacked the home of Andrew Allahmagani, the district head in Fadiya, Allahmagani told Compass by telephone.

Allahmagani said he was sleeping that morning when he suddenly heard gunshots near his residence.

“They [the attackers] later moved around the house shooting into windows and doors, including that of my wife,” he said. “Afterward, they moved to the quarters of my brother, where they shot and killed my nephew, Fidelis Ishaku, who was 10 years old, and shot and injured my mother, who is 70.”

A Christian security guard at the house, 52-year-old Zaman Kaki, was also killed in the attack by about 10 assailants armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, Allahmagani said. Kaki leaves behind a wife and four children. 

The slain boy’s grandmother, Laraba Ishaku, received a life-threatening wound in the thigh but survived after receiving treatment at Zonkwa Medical Center, he said. Also receiving hospital treatment for wounds was Bartholomew Ishaku, 20, and 31-year-old Clement Yohanna, he said.

Eyewitness Danjuma Sarki told Compass that about 30 spent shells were recovered from the scene of the attack, which kept many Christians from meeting for church services that day.

“The attackers wore black uniforms and shot sporadically,” Sarki said.

Jonathan Asake, a former member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, told Compass by phone that he got to the scene of the incident at about 7 a.m. and found Allahmagani’s house littered with spent bullet shells, and some 20 bullets were also collected.

“The invaders who came as early as 12:30 a.m. to Fadiya Bakut village shot dead a lad who was caught by the bullet while fleeing with his mother,” he added.

The former legislator said Christians in the community “summoned courage and chased the fleeing invaders. It was then brought to their attention, that a man with blood-stained clothes was sighted within the vicinity by dawn. A quick search uncovered the suspect. He was on the verge of being lynched when the police came to his rescue. He is now at the Zonkwa police station.”

Kaduna State Police Spokesman Aminu Lawal confirmed the attacks, saying one of the assailants has been arrested.

“It is true that a security guard was killed, and a small boy was also killed,” he said. “The target was not only the Christian community leader but also the Fadiya Bakut community.”

On July 24 at about 1 a.m., Muslim marauders moving in three groups also attacked the villages of Angwan Yaro and Angwan Yuli in Sanga Local Government Area of the State, area residents said. The attacks forced Christians to stay away from worship services in order to keep watch on their communities.

Saidu Mallam, a Christian and a resident of Angwan Yaro village, told Compass that they learned of the planned invasion by Muslim militants and decided to take prompt action.

“We got urgent information that strange Muslim gunmen have been noticed approaching our area, and we became worried and woke all of our people only to see the armed Muslims in groups,” Mallam said. “The first group of Muslims numbered about 200, while the second and the third groups numbered about 300.”

The first and the second groups did not begin attacking until the last group arrived, he said.

“They had guns, swords and other local weapons with some of them holding petrol in cans,” Mallam said. “We were outnumbered as we had no arms. However, we resisted the invasion and they fled. We captured 15 of them. They have been handed over to soldiers who were drafted in to save us. The soldiers took them away.”

Mallam said the gunmen were no doubt from Niger, called Nigeriens.

“They are strange people that you can identify as Nigeriens, and even their accent can convince you that they are not Nigerians,” he said. “We have never experienced this kind of situation; we could not hold church services because we are still afraid. Some of the militants escaped into the bush, and we don’t know what may happen in the night, though soldiers are here now.”

Niger, 97 percent Muslim, has seen the rise of Islamic extremists groups in recent years, according to Operation World. It lies on Nigeria’s Muslim-majority northern border.

Some of the Christians injured in the attacks are receiving treatment at General Hospital, Kafanchan. Three of the injured Christians were identified as Samuel Hassan, Maiwada Buki and Nyako Makeri.

The Rev. Joe Yari, spokesman for the Northern Nigerian Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed the attacks.

“All security agencies are aware about these attacks on Christian communities in the state,” said Yari, who is also the CAN chairman of the Jema’a Local Government Area.

Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.

Northern Nigeria climbed to 23^rd place in 2010 from 27^th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution.

www.compassdirect.org

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News