Christian Persecution – Africa

Christian leaders in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state have accused the government of coercing Muslim converts to Christianity into attacking Christians and demolishing church buildings.

The leader of a Kenyan “Jesus” film team ministry supported by churches and individuals through Christian Aid narrowly survived a murder attempt April 3. However, three neighbors who rushed to his aid in the 3 a.m. attack were shot and killed by the attackers.

A top leader of Timothy Training Institute in Mozambique was murdered Sunday in a robbery in Maputo.

Legislation designed to further the United States’ involvement in helping end a Sudanese campaign marked by religious persecution has been reintroduced in Congress.

At least five churches were destroyed during February in northern Nigeria as the controversial implementation of Islamic law continued in several states.

Dozens of Nigerian Christian families have fled to Nigeria’s neighbor, Cameroon, because of mounting pressure resulting from the implementation of the Islamic legal system, or “sharia,” by the Borno state government.

Five of seven Christians arrested in December and January for alleged “cult” activities and detained under Brunei’s Internal Security Act have been released. It was not known if any conditions were attached to their release, which occurred during the week of February 12, but they were reportedly told not to leave the country or talk about their detention, according to a source who did not want to be identified.

Muslim extremists have been deliberately targeting Christian women for rape in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto state since the introduction of the Islamic legal code, or “sharia,” Christian leaders there say.

Three Christians arrested in December and four Christians arrested in January for alleged “cult” activities are being detained under Brunei’s Internal Security Act, which allows them to be held 60 days before they are officially charged.

A Sudanese pastor has appealed to US President George W. Bush to intervene against Sudanese government bombing of churches, hospitals and schools by declaring Southern Sudan a no-fly zone for military aircraft.

Nigeria came into the international limelight in the year 2000 as the country began a full year of democratic government following prolonged military rule. It also saw the rise of Islamic fundamentalism as several northern Nigerian states have moved to implement Islamic (sharia) law. The resulting Christian-Muslim conflicts have threatened to permanently divide Africa’s most populous nation.

The Russian-made MU2 Antonov aircraft, with Sudanese government markings, made six bombing runs on Thursday, March 23, over the grounds of the Christian Liberty Academy of Southern Sudan in Western Equatoria, dropping one or two 250-pound-shrapnel bombs at a time. This bombing mission by the Islamic-led government forces of Sudan inflicted numerous injuries on students and their parents.

“If you want to save your lives, don’t show this film again.” This was the warning made to the Great Commission team after they had shown the Jesus film in Birnin Kebbi, capital of Nigeria’s Kebbi state. Kebbi, along with several other northern Nigerian states, has adopted “sharia” (Islamic law) to operate above the local and national legal systems.

The head of the Nigerian Bible Society recently released the casualty figures of Christians killed and churches destroyed during the February and May religious clashes between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna, the capital city of northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state.

Bloody clashes that erupted September 7-9 between Muslims and Christians in Bambam, in northern Nigeria’s Gombe state, left 25 persons dead and property damage estimated in the millions of dollars.

Thousands of Christians affected by religious conflicts in Kaduna in northern Nigeria are languishing in refugee camps across the state without receiving help from the government.

A Christian initiative aimed at rehabilitating individuals and churches traumatized during sectarian riots in Kaduna earlier this year was launched in Lagos by a Pentecostal assembly, the Living Waters Unlimited Church.

Twenty pastors from various church denominations were among the hundreds of Christians killed during the two religious crises that occurred in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna city in February and May.