Persecuted Church News: killings

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Friday, December 9, 2011

Bomb Blast in Kaduna, Nigeria Leaves at Least Eight Dead

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

KADUNA. NIGERIA (ANS) -- A powerful bomb blast rocked Kaduna metropolis yesterday, leaving at least eight dead, many badly injured and causing millions of naira worth of destruction to properties and businesses.

Eyewitnesses told Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria (CSWN) that the bombers were on motorcycles, and were heading towards a spare part shop in a busy trading area, before residents heard the sound of an explosion, which killed one motorcyclist.

According to news reports, the National Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross, Federal Road Safety Corps, Police and Army worked for hours to evacuate the injured and the decapitated bodies of victims.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) www.csw.org.uk says the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police is reported to have attributed the explosion to gas cylinders and batteries in the shops. However, CSW reports, Mr Sunday Mba, the Chairman of the Spare Part Seller’s Union, has said that shops in the area do not sell gas and that a battery explosion would not cause such extensive damage.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the Red Cross has confirmed that the explosion in Kaduna was a bomb, corroborating eyewitness reports made to CSWN; however no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

CSW explained that Kaduna was one of the sites of deadly post-election violence in April. More recently, several people were killed when two villages in southern Kaduna were attacked by armed Fulanis.

Andrew Johnston, Advocacy Director for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said: “We extend our condolences to the families of those killed in this deadly blast.

“Although the authorities have claimed this was a case of exploding batteries and gas cylinders, eyewitness reports are unequivocal that this was a bomb, detonated in a busy trading area to inflict maximum damage to people and property, and there are suspicions that Boko Haram may have been involved. “We urge the state authorities to take these reports seriously, and conduct a thorough investigation in order to swiftly apprehend the perpetrators of this appalling attack.”

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

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 .

** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Two People Killed, Homes and Stores Torched in Attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses, according to the Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org ).

In an article for AINA, Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih says that a quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province.

AINA reports that Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Hosni apparently fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.

The news agency says the events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house.

This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property, AINA says.

"Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.

In the altercation between the neighbors, Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital, AINA reported.

In its report, AINA says that angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home.

AINA goes on to report that three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care.

The AINA report says: “They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.”

After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses, AINA reported.

AINA went on to state that despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.

"This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness.

"Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property," said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind.

"We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."

The eyewitness added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are about 500 Muslims for every one policeman.

AINA explained the Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.

AINA said Christian inhabitants are still afraid to venture into the streets.

Father Lucas Aghapios, pastor of St. George's Church in alGhorayzat, described the situation in the village today as "cautioned" peace. He said that although the Muslim attack started at 11 AM, security forces turned up late in the evening, and Muslim transgressions occurred in the presence of the security forces.

Father Lucas said that yesterday Muslim attacks resulted in 25 incidents of looting and torching of Christian-owned shops, in addition to 8 homes. He confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the events, but could not confirm that John Hosni had surrendered to the police.

He told AINA:"Yesterday John Hosni was in a safe place, but he is not in the village, I do not know his whereabouts." He also does not know whether any Muslims were arrested in connection with the slaughtering of the two Coptic brothers.

AINA said a funeral for Abdel-Nazeer was held on Tuesday.

Bishop Bachoum of Sohag said yesterday evening on CTV Coptic Channel that funerals for the two Copts were held in Sohag and they were buried in their village of elGhorayzat, under heavy security. He said that efforts are under way for a "reconciliation" meeting between Muslim and Christians elders.

Commenting on the elGhorayzat events, Dr. Fawzi Hermina, a Coptic activist who lives in Sohag, said that Copts are living in a state of Statelessness -- with no state, no security and no law.

"Unfortunately the Copts, being the weak party in society, are paying the price," he said.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

At Least 45 Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria

Charred interior of Christian-owned home burned
by Muslim assailants in Barkin Ladi, Platea state.

(Photo: Compass)

Ethnic Fulanis crying ‘Allahu akbar!’ attack church, communities.

BARKIN LADI, Nigeria, November 28 (CDN) — Fulani Muslim herdsmen along with Muslim soldiers have killed at least 45 ethnic Berom Christians in Plateau state in the past week, Christians in this northern-central Nigerian town said.

Smaller attacks beginning on Nov. 20, reportedly over allegations by Fulani Muslims of cattle theft, preceded an attack on a Barkin Ladi church on Nov. 23 that killed four Christians, and an assault the next day left 35 Christians dead in Barkin Ladi and nearby Kwok village, according to area Christian leaders.

Church attendance was decimated yesterday as thousands of Christians have left the area.

“Christians are fleeing the town because we have no guns to fight back,” said one woman in a group of six Christians trying to leave Barkin Ladi. “Muslims have guns, and they have their soldiers fighting for them, so we have no choice but to leave town.”

Almost all churches in the town cancelled or held reduced worship services on the first Sunday (Nov. 27) after the crisis was contained, as nearly all area Christians have fled to Jos or have left Plateau state, long hit by ethnic property conflicts fueled by anti-Christian sentiment. In March 2010 ethnic Berom Christians, who live as farmers, suffered attacks from Fulani nomads who graze their cattle on the Beroms’ land, resulting in hundreds of deaths in three villages near Jos.

In the attack on Thursday (Nov. 24), the Fulani Muslims were shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is greater],” said farmer Choji Pamjamo, 51.

“On Thursday at about 9 a.m., the Muslims’ call to prayer was made at the Izala [Islamic sect] mosque,” Pamjamo said. “And shortly after that, we saw hundreds of armed Muslims invading the town from all directions, attacking and killing Christians. They were shouting ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,’ as they were burning properties belonging to Christians.”

Pamjamo confirmed Christian leaders’ account of an attack on a Church of Christ of Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in the Sabon Layi (Rantya) area of Barkin Ladi the previous night (Nov. 23), saying that among the four Christians killed was Bible teacher Yakubu Pam.

David Gyang, 51, an elder at the COCIN Barkin Ladi church, said Muslims set off a religious crisis by attacking Christians at the church site on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) and then launching a major offensive the next morning.

“Some of the Christian victims in this attack that I know include a Christian police officer, one Mr. Bulus, who is the station officer of the Barkin Ladi police station,” Gyang said. “He was inside his house on that day, and these Muslims broke the walls of his room and went inside to kill him and his son. A second Christian victim is Solomon Pam. He was attacked and had his hand broken.”

Gyang lamented that Muslim soldiers brought to town to restore order joined their fellow Muslims in killing and maiming Christians.

“Muslims soldiers took sides with their fellow Muslims and were shooting and killing Christians,” he said. “They also had soldiers guarding mosques in the town, but none was sent to watch over our churches, and that is the reason Muslims were able to burn the Baptist church in the town.”

The COCIN church in Barkin Ladi had an average Sunday service attendance of about 1,200 people, but yesterday only 50 showed up, he said.

“We could not go on with the worship but held a prayer meeting, and then our pastor left to Kwok village for the burial of the 26 killed there,” he said.

Sources told Compass that along with the 26 Christians killed in Kwok village, nine others were killed in the attack on Barkin Ladi on Thursday (Nov. 24). Compass found that the area attacks on Christians began Nov. 20, the day of the alleged cattle theft, with the killing of three Christians outside Barkin Ladi, and then two Christians in the town were killed on Nov. 21.

The next day, a Christian was beheaded behind a popular hotel in Barkin Ladi known as the White House, sources said. The attack on the COCIN church ensued the following evening.

Bitrus Davou and John David, two young Christian men who live near the church building, said they narrowly escaped death.

“Bullets fired at me by a Muslim soldier missed me and killed my dog,” said Davou, 21.

David, also 21, said he and five friends were sitting in front of their house when a Muslim soldier appeared and began shooting at them.

“My friends ran inside the house, but I could not follow suit immediately as there was no route for me to run – so I jumped into an unfinished building beside my house,” David said, pointing toward the bullet holes in the wall where he had taken refuge. “While there, the soldier spotted me and began shooting at me. It is a miracle that I escaped unhurt.”

The Rev. Daniel Moses, pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), said the violence was started by town Muslims who obtained massive support from Muslims from other parts of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area. Thousands of Christians have been displaced, he said.

“As of this morning [Sunday, Nov. 27) corpses of Christians killed are still being recovered, but we can confirm that 37 corpses have been recovered already, and even as I talk to you the burial of some of them is going on in the surrounding Christian villages,” Moses said.

Emmanuel Kyesmen, secretary of ECWA congregation, said the government has been slow to address security concerns.

“Alhaji Kasimu, one of leaders of the Muslim community in Barkin Ladi, is responsible for arming Muslims to attack Christians – we all know this, and the attention of security agencies have been called to his activities, but no one seems to take the necessary steps to check him,” Kyesmen said. “It appears the man is above the law.”

The Barkin Ladi ECWA church, whose regular worship service usually attracts about 270 people, was a ghost of itself on Sunday, with only 42 members able to muster the courage to show up. The service lasted no more than 15 minutes, as they only prayed and left.

Kyesmen told Compass that 11 members of the church had their houses set ablaze by Muslims.

“As a church, we have become targets of attacks,” Kyesmen said. “Our pastors and members are being killed in Plateau state by Muslims, while thousands of others have become refugees in their fatherland. There is the urgent need for the Nigerian government to find a lasting solution to this problem.”

Religious conflict has been growing in Plateau state since 2006, he said, with numerous investigating committees instituted to investigate and report on the immediate and deeper causes, he said.

“But the surprising thing is that none of these reports has been implemented, and no individual has been made to face the wrath of the law,” Kyesmen said. “The government must have the courage to ensure that those causing these problems are prosecuted.”

Among the church buildings found locked on Sunday morning were St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, St. Mark’s Anglican Church, ECWA Good News Church, COCIN Church Sabon Layi, Living Faith Church, and a host of other Pentecostal and charismatic churches. The few churches that opened for prayer, which lasted no longer than 15 minutes, included the ECWA church, the COCIN church, and the All Denomination Church at the police barracks.

David Alamba, 48, a technician whom Compass met near the town’s police station along with five Christian women who were trying to leave Barkin Ladi, said many churches in town have been closed as most Christians have fled.

“Most Christians who live in Muslim quarters like Sabon Layi, Angwan Hausawa, Angwan Kwano, Angwan Izala, and Angwan Katako areas have to get soldiers to accompany them before they get their few belongings to leave the town,” he said. “You have to pay the soldiers at least 2,000 naira (US$12) before they escort you to your house to get a few belongings before you move out of the town.”

Alamba said Muslims have been moving into the farms belonging to Christians and are destroying crops.

“This is to chase us out of the town and make us homeless, and at the same time starve us to death, since we now have no food to eat,” he said.

Predominantly Christian areas affected by the attacks included Rantya Gwol, Anguwar Tasha, Gangare, and Hayin Asibiti, sources said.

Several people fleeing the town as Compass arrived asked, “When will the killings of Christians in Nigeria stop?”

END

Friday, November 18, 2011

Somali Christians Find Danger Follows Them to Kenya

Hostility toward converts from Islam shadows refugees to neighboring country.

By Simba Tian

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 17 (Compass Direct News) – One Christian left his native Somalia 10 years ago and another fled as Muslim extremists were bombing his house earlier this year, but both Somali converts from Islam feel they are still in danger in Kenya.

In February, Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab militia fighting for control of Somalia reduced Mohammed Abdi Mose’s house in Mogadishu to ashes as he evacuated his family, the 54-year-old father of seven told Compass. His head bears a scar where shrapnel struck, and he requires medicine to limit the injury’s damage to his memory.

“It was midnight, and it was raining,” he said. “No moonlight; no light; I said, ‘We are moving.’ Amid the bullets and mortar shells, I had four kids on me, and my wife had three kids on her, with the older boy and girl walking – the smaller ones were on us.”

About 150 people died that night in military fighting, but Mose said it was no accident that his house was targeted. Earlier that month the Muslim extremists, who had suspected he was a convert to Christianity as he had worked for Christian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), confirmed that he had come to faith in Christ and was therefore worthy of death. They tied his hands behind him and began hitting him with sticks and metallic objects, he said.

He sustained a deep cut on his heel. They stomped on his stomach, damaging his urinary system, he said. Neighbors who heard his cries came out in large numbers, forcing the attackers to flee. Mose said he knew then it was time to relocate.

After spending a month with neighbors recovering from his injuries, he and his family fled to Lower Juba in March, then to Kismayo. Kismayo is al Shabaab’s economic lifeline, where the extremists receive goods by ship, as well as ransom money from piracy. The Kenyan military has besieged the port town in an effort to flush out the militants after they were blamed for a spate of kidnappings of foreigners inside Kenyan territory.

Closely monitored by al Shabaab in Kismayo, the family headed toward Kenya in April, renting a donkey to carry their luggage and youngest child, 4 (their oldest, a daughter, is 19). Mose said it took them 18 days to traverse the 370 kilometers (230 miles) to Liboi, the border town on the Kenyan side, where the donkey died of exhaustion. They still had 100 kilometers (62 miles) to go to reach refugee camps in Dadaab.

For the next six months, the family lived in the Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, where people flow freely in and out of the camp, including al Shabaab members in civilian garb. In September, Mose said, some al Shabaab members in the camp threatened to kill him. Somali Christian contacts in Kenya helped Mose move his family away from the border last month.

Having worked for NGOs while in Somalia, Mose became a target as al Shabaab sees the organizations as either Christian or spies for the West, he said. That reputation has followed him, subjecting his family to discrimination not only from the militants but also from other Somali Muslims; the threat continues in his undisclosed location in Kenya, which is more than 82 percent Christian with a Muslim population of 8.32 percent, according to Operation World.

Mose’s wife bakes and sells bread to try to feed the family. She is due to give birth in January – to twins – and the family fears she may be unable to continue her micro-enterprise. Mose, meantime, said he is still in pain.

“At the moment, I cannot do heavy work,” he said. “I have a lot of pain in my lower abdomen which needs medical attention. My back is also not good. Indeed our situation is not promising, especially taking care of a family of nine as a refugee. If we get asylum, then it will save my family.”

Threatened

Another Somali convert from Islam arrived in Kenya in 2001, but he and his family also are seeking a third country after Muslims in Nairobi recently posted his photo in a mosque, accusing him of being a threat to Islam.

The Muslims of Nairobi’s Somali enclave in Eastleigh found out that Adam Musse Othman, 60, had translated biblical portions into Maay, one of the Somali dialects, and they also got hold of a copy of the Jesus Film that Othman had translated into Maay; they were able to identify the voice-over in the film as his, he said.

Othman said he was not safe from Islamic extremists in Nairobi who told him by phone that they were aware of his involvement in the production of the Christian film and the translation of biblical passages into Maay.

“I cannot take such threats lightly, hence my request for resettlement on security grounds where we can live peacefully, decently and freely – also, to save ourselves from death and violence,” he said.

Othman, who walks with the aid of a cane and said he is suffering from various ailments, said he has made several applications to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for resettlement and is awaiting a reply.

“I feel that our case needs urgent attention, given the current situation surrounding our well-being,” he said. “With the increasing radicalization of Islam in Somalia, and the potential spillover effects into Kenya, I feel unsafe living in Kenya with my family.”

Othman said his absence from mosque prayers had led his Muslim friends and relatives to shun him and his family.

“There are no cordial relations between us, and I have received several threatening phone calls and short text messages in my phone by people who claim to know that I am a Christian,” he said. “I have reported this matter to Pangani police station. The threats to me and my family from Islamic radicals are still haunting me here in Nairobi. There are people who know me and my family and are suspicious of my faith. When my wife visits Eastleigh, she has to cover her face to avoid being identified.”

Othman left Somalia fearing either the civil war or those hostile to his Christian faith would kill him, he said.

“The current situation in Somalia, the emergence of al Shabaab and the introduction of sharia[Islamic law], makes it unthinkable that I can ever return to Somalia,” he said.

He worked as medical liaison officer with a Christian NGO based in Mogadishu between 1992 and 1995; later his family moved to Baidoa when the war intensified.

“That kind of work proved dangerous to me since I started getting threatening phone calls from Islamic extremists,” he said. “I also felt that some members of my sub-clan who knew about me were not happy, judging from the way they constantly challenged me to state my spiritual standing since I was working with a Christian NGO, and this made me feel highly insecure.”

At first he did not take the threats seriously, he said. But then Islamic extremists shot dead his cousin, Abdi Washed, a Christian, in Mogadishu in 1994, and shortly thereafter three friends were killed at Bakaro Market in Mogadishu.

“The killings were carefully planned assassinations,” he said. “I was then warned by my close friends and relatives that I was next in the list of Christians targeted for assassination.”

Heavy fighting in Baidoa made it difficult for Othman to cross into Kenya. He was able to leave Somalia by air in 2001, and the following year his family joined him after traveling on foot and by bus.

Previously he had worked in Yemen with a Christian group, he said, arriving there in 1986 after completing theological studies abroad. It would prove to be one of his first experiences with people hostile to Christianity.

“Some people unknown to me reported to the Yemeni authorities that I was a Christian,” he said. “I was arrested and imprisoned for nine months that year at Sana’a Central Prison.”

www.compassdirect.org

END

**********

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Funeral Held for Christians Killed in Suleja, Nigeria Bombing

Church leader makes urgent call for government to restore order.

By Obed Minchakpu

ABUJA, Nigeria, July 19 (Compass Direct News) – Members of a church in Suleja, Niger state, on the northern outskirts of this Nigerian capital city, culminated a week of fasting and prayer on Saturday (July 17) with a memorial service for three Christians killed in a bombing by an Islamist sect.

Muslim militants from the Boko Haram threw a bomb into the building of the All Christian Fellowship Mission church on July 10 as members were leaving a Sunday worship service, authorities said.

Church member Christopher Ogbu told Compass he lost his wife, Ifeanyiwa Justina Ogbu, in the explosion.

“I have now been transformed into a widower, as my wife has been killed here,” Ogbu said.

At the funeral service for the three Christians that were killed, the Rev. William Okoye, general overseer of the church, lamented the lack of security in Nigeria. He urged the government to halt the violence that has ravaged the country this year before it is plunged into religious war.

He told Compass that he rushed to the church site when news of the explosion reached him.

“I got here to discover that indeed an explosion had occurred in my church here in Suleja,” he said. “Two died here, while the third died in the hospital in Abuja.”

Shortly after the church was bombed, he said, the church declared a week of fasting and prayer. Security authorities believe members of Boko Haram, which has declared a jihad on the government in a bid to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) on the country, threw a bomb onto church premises the afternoon of July 10.

“We received a report about the explosion in this church, and we rushed here to discover that it is true the church has been bombed,” Sanusi Lemu, assistant commissioner of police, told Compass. “We then brought in our men from the bomb disposal unit, who recovered the injured and those killed.”

Church member Uche Alfred confirmed that the explosion occurred as members were leaving the Sunday service.

The explosion marks the third time this year that bombs have targeted institutions in Suleja, just outside the political heart of the nation. The first explosion occurred early in the year at the Suleja office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, killing more than 25 persons. A second bombing took place during a political party’s rally, killing several persons, including elementary schoolchildren.

“We received a report on the explosion in this church, and we mobilized and got here,” Ishaya Isa of the National Emergency Management Agency told Compass. “You can see for yourself that it is true, as we have evacuated those killed to the morgue.”

Members of Boko Haram, or the Jama’atu ahlus Sunnah lid da’awati wal Jihad, have claimed responsibility for other church bombings and attacks. The extremist Islamic sect is reportedly expected to launch a terrorist offensive at the end of this month, the two-year anniversary of the death of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.

Nigerian security forces captured Yusuf on July 30, 2009, and the next day he was dead under mysterious circumstances.

Boko Haram reportedly formalized links with Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) last year, prompting fears that Nigeria could see unprecedented large-scale terrorism, including suicide bombings. The government is reportedly expecting more than 100 jihadists trained in Sudan and Somalia to lead a terrorist assault planned for the end of the month.

The jihadists, who reportedly received training from AQIM, would lead attacks planned for Borno as well as the northern states of Katsina, Kaduna and Yobe.

Sharia is already in force in 12 northern states, where Christians are supposed to be exempt but are often compelled to comply by various sectors of society. Borno state, where Boko Haram has its base, is one of the states implementing Islamic law.

After the death of Yusuf, the extremist Islamic sect has been led by Abu Zaid, who last October claimed responsibility for bombing churches in Borno state. Zaid told the Hausa-language service of the BBC and Voice of America at that time that the group attacks as a means of pressuring the government to allow Islamic law in Nigeria.

Dr. Abdulateef Adegbite, secretary-general of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, has said Muslim leaders do not support the activities of Boko Haram.

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

END