Nigeria: Christian women are being raped by Islamic terrorists seeking to destroy their communities
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The Open Doors Christian advocacy organization has warned that Christian women in Nigeria are now being raped by Islamic militants as part of an ongoing systemic effort to destroy Christian communities through murder, terror attacks, abductions, and displacement, Christian Today reports.
As reports of systemic rape emerge, Open Doors has stated that on 29 July, four young women in the predominantly Christian village of Angwan Aku in Kaduna state were abducted by armed militants and raped by multiple men.
Describing the attack, one of the victims told Open Doors: “We were fast asleep when we heard a loud bang on our door. They forced their way in, then ordered my husband to lie down on the ground while my less than one-year-old child was screaming at the top of his voice. They took me away while I struggled and begged for my sick child. They forced me away, hitting me with the AK47 rifle [butt] on my left eye.They joined me with the other girls they had already taken from various locations in the village.”
Another of the victims told Open Doors: “They asked us to choose to either be raped by gang members or to have our loved ones abducted for ransom. We told them our parents are too poor and can’t afford ransom, so they took us away on their motorbike to Kutura and raped us.”
A local Open Doors associate whose name cannot be given for security reasons has stated that raping Christian women has become a way to attack “all that [Christians] hold in high regard… “If they can’t find the men to kill, they rape the women. That way, they create a lasting effect on Christian families,” the associate said. Open Doors is providing trauma counseling and medical support to the women, Christian Today reports.
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