Muslim Extremist Attacks Devastate
Churches in Nigeria
Morning Star News, January 30, 2024:
ABUJA, Nigeria (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Recent Muslim extremist attacks in an area of central Nigeria resulted in dozens of deaths and the closure of 10 Baptist churches, including one now used as a mosque, a denominational leader said.
The attacks in Plateau state’s Mangu County by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists included an assault on one village that killed 24 Christians, said Plateau Baptist Conference President Koeleh Kelvin Saleh. The raids drove 500 church members from 10 villages and resulted in the closure of a Baptist church in each community, he said.
“One of the church worship places in the affected Christian communities was converted into a mosque by the Muslim Fulani herdsmen who took over three communities,” Pastor Saleh told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
Europe, are you reading this? Do you see the writing on the wall?
An attack by herdsmen in Kantoma village on May 16 resulted in the slaughter of 24 members of Bethel Baptist Church, including Pastor Mangmwos Tangshak Daniel, while nine members of a Baptist church in Jwak Maitumbi village were killed, Pastor Saleh said.
“The sad thing is that, we didn’t have a place to bury the corpses of our church members killed in the Kantoma attack, and so corpses were dumped in a mining pit,” he said.
Officials feared that burying so many mutilated bodies would lead to further security threats, so church leader arranged for a mass burial in a neighboring area, he said.
“An understanding was brokered with the Mararaban Kantoma community, which is of another local government area, for these bodies to buried there,” Pastor Saleh said. “Nobody was ready to release his land for such, and in fact the bodies littered the ground from morning to evening, and so when they searched and found a mining pit, an agreement was brokered with the community to push the bodies into the mining pit.”
The burial of Pastor Daniel’s body was carried out separately afterward, “so that it can be used as a contact from his family to other families who hadn’t the opportunity to give the Christian rites of burial to their relations, because they were just pushed into a mining pit,” he said.
“The mass burial was undertaken under tight security watch. It’s so pathetic that while the burial was ongoing, the Muslim Fulani herdsmen were shooting at Christians at the burial site,” he added. “The presence of police personnel who were at the burial site helped, because they also fired warning shots, which halted the attacks from the herdsmen.”
The burial was completed hurriedly because of the herdsmen shootings, Pastor Saleh said.
“The Christians there lost a lot; the church was destroyed, and there’s no single house standing in Kantoma – all houses of Christians have been destroyed,” he said. “It’s one of the communities where we had the largest Baptist church. The ruins of the community have been taken over by the herdsmen who now use the place to graze their cattle.”
The herdsmen have also stolen windows and doors from destroyed homes, he said.
“The situation in Kantoma is horrible. Christians who survived the attacks have nowhere to return to,” he said. “A few Christians who attempted to return there to salvage anything they can find in their destroyed houses had to be accompanied by security agents. And this they did hurriedly.”
Accompanied by security agents, Pastor Saleh and other Christian leaders visited the affected areas and discovered that Fulani herdsmen had taken over three Christian communities, he said.
“In fact, one of the church buildings which served as a worship hall for Christians has been converted into a mosque,” he said….
Christian Slain, Another Beaten Unconscious
in Sudan
Morning Star News, January 26, 2024:
JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Militants from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed one Christian on Saturday (Jan. 20) and beat another unconscious on Monday (Jan. 22) in Omdurman, Sudan, sources said.
The RSF militants, which have been fighting the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) since April 15, shot dead Hidar Al Amin at his home in the Umbda area of Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, a relative said.
The Muslim militants insulted Al Amin, a member of the Sudanese Presbyterian Evangelical Church in his 30s, for being a Christian, he said. They looted his property and left him in a pool of blood.
“He was killed by the RSF after they stole all that he had,” the relative said in a text message to Morning Star News.
On Monday (Jan. 22), RSF militants beat unconscious Al Thahir Kafi, a Christian merchant, before looting his home and shop in Omdurman, an area source said. Kafi is a well-known trader in the area now under RSF control.
Kafi’s Christian faith is also well-known in the area, and the militants who attacked him were Muslim extremists, the source said.
At least five church buildings have been set ablaze in Sudan since fighting broke out between the RSF and the SAF. In Al Jazirah state, which has been under RSF control since December, militants on Jan. 15 set a Greek Orthodox Church building on fire in Wad Medani, the state capital, an area pastor said.
The Greek Orthodox building is located next to an evangelical church building in the Hai Al Gism Al Aual area of the city, he said.
“The series of churches being set ablaze is ongoing in Wad Medani,” the pastor told Morning Star News.
Another Christian in Wad Medani, Karbino Bla, died on Jan. 5 from injuries sustained from an attack by RSF militants.
In Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 8, up from No. 10 the previous year, as attacks by non-state actors continued and religious freedom reforms at the national level were not enacted locally….
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