More Boko Haram and Jihadist Violence Against Nigerian Christians
Nigerian Christians face persecution all the time. They are ripped away from their families and killed. Their lives are truly in peril every day.
We’ve been sharing with you the story of Leah Sharibu, a Christian teen kidnapped by Boko Haram. She was one of 110 Nigerian girls kidnapped in February 2018. Five of those children are dead and 104 were set free. Leah is the only one who remains in captivity because she refuses to deny her faith in Christ. We are advocating aggressively before the U.N. for her to be freed. Her life is in grave danger, and it is critically important to shine a light far and wide on her story.
Boko Haram continues to commit violence against Christians. According to Morning Star News, Boko Haram released a video in late September showing the execution of two Christian aid workers in Nigeria by militants. The Christian aid workers’ names were Lawrence Duna Dacighir and Godfrey Ali Shikagham. We are praying for their families.
Morning Star News further reports that one of the Boko Haram terrorists in the video vowed to kill every Christian that they capture. Pastor Pofi, a cousin of the two executed Christians, told Morning Star News that the two men were captured by Boko Haram as they were working in a displaced persons camps.
“Lawrence and Godfrey left Abuja for Maiduguri in search of opportunities to utilize their skills for the betterment of humanity and paid with their lives. We will never get their corpses to bury. The community will have to make do with a makeshift memorial to these young lives cut short so horrifically.”
A few days after they reported the murders, Morning Star News reported even more kidnappings of Christians. According to the report:
A day before the Kaduna governor said kidnappers terrorizing the state are working with Boko Haram, Muslim Fulani herdsmen on Thursday (Oct. 3) kidnapped six teenage girls and two staff members from a Christian-run high school in north-central Nigeria . . . .
Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai told the media regarding the kidnappings:
“We have been receiving intelligence some three months ago, that the bandits have connected with some elements of Boko Haram, and they will be targeting schools to kidnap children because they know that that is what makes the news.”
Shunom Giwa, the vice principal of Engravers’ College, told Morning Star News that when the armed herdsmen attacked, he was able to escape but they shot at him. He said that he:
tried to distract them by shouting, “Police, JTF [Joint Task Force] security come, there are kidnappers here!” he said. “On hearing me shouting, they began to shoot at to my direction again. I then ran and jumped over the fence and ran out of the school.”
He remained hiding behind the fence until the sound of barking dogs signaled to him that the assailants must be leaving, he said. He headed toward a school official’s house where female students had gathered after hearing gunshots.
“When we recovered from the shock of what was happening, we started doing a head count to know which students were missing,” Giwa said. “We found that Joel Adamu, the vice principal of academics, the house mistress and six female students were abducted.”
We can only imagine that these eight souls that the Fulani herdsmen have abducted and now hold hostage are living in fear for their lives. With the constant scourge of violence, abduction, and murder – it’s a terrible time to be a Christian in Nigeria.
Our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ need prayers and action. We’re working to help Nigerian Christians escape captivity and persecution, as well as urging the international community at the U.N. to intervene. We will continue to fight tirelessly for a world where all Christians can live and worship without fear, but we can’t do it without you.
Please stand with persecuted Nigerian Christians. Take action with us.