Evangelical Leader Killed In Nigeria
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABUJA (Worthy News) – A prominent evangelical leader has been killed in northeastern Nigeria, a friend confirmed to Worthy News on Tuesday.
Reverend Bala Galadima, a presiding pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) church, was murdered Sunday in the Lubo community of Nigeria’s Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area in Gombe State, said Paul Jongas, an evangelist and farmer.
Police spokesman Buhari Abdullahi linked the killing to “a robbery.” He said, “The issue is a robbery because they entered the house at night, and maybe they attempted to rob him.”
A group of armed men dressed in black stormed the home of a pastor around 1 a.m., local told shooting him in the back while he lay in bed, according to members of his congregation.
The attackers then opened fire throughout the village to prevent any resistance, Christians recalled. “Unfortunately, from the way he was shot in the back, maybe he was trying to escape, which is natural and normal, and he was shot,” Abdullahi added.
Galadima is among thousands of Christians killed in Nigeria in recent years
Human rights investigators say criminal groups, as well as Muslim extremists, have disproportionately targeted the Christian minority in Nigeria, one of the deadliest countries for Christians.
LEADER MISSED
Jongas said the murdered church leader will be missed. “We graduated from the same Bible college and done the same mission work. We are from the same Gombe state from the same village,” Jongas explained to Worthy News.
“I will remember him as [a man of] strong faith, kindness, and endurance,” he added. Jonas said he was “praying for means of going to Gombe for his burial on Saturday.”
“We are devastated by the loss of our pastor,” added church member Lami Sabo in remarks monitored by Worthy News. “His courage, wisdom, and generosity will be deeply missed.”
Gombe’s state government ordered a “manhunt” for ECWA pastor’s killers.
Abdullahi said the local “Commissioner of Police, Bello Yahaya, visited the hospital where the body of the deceased was taken.
He deployed a team containing a special squad to maintain peace, assuring that the culprits would be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.”
Yet it has done little to increase security for Christians, rights watchers suggest. “Jihadist violence continues to escalate in Nigeria, and Christians are particularly at risk from targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani fighters, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province),” noticed Christian advocacy group Open Doors.
INCREASED ATTACKS
The attacks “increased under the rule of former president Muhammadu Buhari, putting Nigeria at the epicenter of targeted violence against the church. The government’s failure to protect Christians and punish perpetrators has only strengthened the militants’ influence,” the group added.
“While Christians used to be vulnerable only in the Muslim-majority northern states, this violence continues to spread into the Middle Belt and even further south. The attacks are shockingly brutal. Many believers are killed, particularly men, while women are often kidnapped and targeted for sexual violence,” Open Doors noticed.
“More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. Militants also destroy homes, churches, and livelihoods.”
In other recent violence, last month, on January 12, the village of Bamzir was reportedly attacked by extremists. “Two brothers, Enoch and Josiah Pogu Pudza, both church members, were murdered,” said villager Iliya Dauda. “Their bodies were left in the ashes of the church.”
Later on, on January 16, an Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa, a Nigeria (EYN) church in the town of Yimirmugza, was destroyed by Islamic group Boko Haram, Christians recalled.
On January 30, extremists reportedly raided the village of Kauthlama, torching an Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) church, destroying homes, and looting livestock. “Our community is suffering greatly from these relentless attacks,” said resident Paul Mauntah. “We urge our leaders to take action.”
The violence comes amid growing controversy over the Nigerian government’s decision to release 5,000 former Boko Haram fighters on January 30. Officials claim the militants had been “deradicalized and reformed,” but Christians remain skeptical.
“While we suffer daily at the hands of Boko Haram, the government is setting these terrorists free,” said Amos Dauda, an EYN church member. “How can we believe they have truly changed?”
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