Page 4 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians Jan-Mar-2024-125

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Believers prove soft target
for abduction
New reports highlight the growing
kidnap crisis in Nigeria, where
Christians are regarded as soft targets
for abduction.
Last year a report by UK
parliamentarians heard that almost 90
per cent of all the Christians kidnapped
worldwide were abducted in Nigeria.
According to the charity Aid to the
Church in Need 5,200 Christians were
kidnapped in Nigeria between January
2021 and June 2022. And last year,
by mid-November, 23 clergy and church workers had been abducted and several
murdered.
On November 17 it was reported that kidnappers killed a pastor after receiving a
1m naira ransom payment from his church. Morning Star News reported that the
Rev David Musa, of ECWA church in Lokoja County, was killed after being held for
three days. He was shot dead after the agreed ransom had been paid.
‘Through an epidemic of kidnapping and murder, terrorists are forcing Christians
from their homes in an attempt to Islamise the north. And increasingly, they
are turning their attention further south,’ said Paul Robinson, CEO of Release
International.
A new report by International Christian Concern claims more than 500 Christians
were killed in 55 attacks over a four-month period to July.
ICC wrote: ‘Christians experience a disproportionate share of the killings and
kidnappings. Nigeria has become a burial ground for believers of the Christian faith
[and] is arguably the most dangerous place to be a Christian in the world today.’
Their findings were supported by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The APPG heard that ‘more Christians are killed for
their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined’.
‘All these reports confirm that Nigeria has become the kidnap capital of the world –
and Christians are being targeted in an attempt to drive them off their lands,’
said Mr Robinson.
‘Some of these attacks can be put down to banditry and lawlessness, others are the
singling out of Christian leaders and their communities. Thousands of Christians have
been killed or abducted in recent years. These moves are designed to drive Christians
from their villages and create a climate of fear.’
According to Lagos-based research group SBMIntel the recent wave of abductions
had led to ransom payouts amounting to 302m naira (£288,000).
Release International partner and former Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi, said
the abduction epidemic began with Boko Haram kidnapping schoolgirls and killing
Christians.
‘Today, the terror groups include Fulani herdsmen killers and a criminal element
whose main business is to kidnap for ransom. They kidnap mainly pastors,
worshippers on Sundays and children of influential Christians. The aim is to make sure
the church is terribly poor and impoverished.’
(Source: Morning Star News)
More Christians
killed in village
attacks
Fulani herdsmen and other
terrorists are understood to have
killed seven more Christians in
attacks on two villages in Plateau
state, Nigeria, at the end of
November.
According to sources, the attackers
raided Puka and Dinter villages in
Mangu County in the early hours of
November 30.
One resident told Morning Star
News in a text message: ‘Fulani
herdsmen together with a group of
bandits attacked two of our villages,
Puka and Dinter, where they killed
seven of our Christian villagers.
Many other Christians were injured
and are currently being treated for
gunshot wounds and machete cuts.’
The day before, a pastor and two
other Christians were kidnapped in
the predominantly Christian Raddi
village, Bassa County, a resident said
in a text message.
The three Christians were rescued
later that evening in neighbouring
Bauchi state in a police response to
another kidnapping attempt in Toro
County, local press reported.
A few days earlier suspected Fulani
herdsmen and other terrorists
attacked villages in Taraba state,
killing at least 10 Christians,
sources said. One resident said the
militants shot at anyone they saw.
(Source: Morning Star News)
Archbishop Ben Kwashi said the aim of the
kidnappers was to impoverish the church
Faith
under
fire
NIGERIAN CHURCH PLAGUED BY
KILLING AND KIDNAP EPIDEMIC