|
NIGERIA: Crackdown on Christians
|
John Henry
|
May 06, 2007 15:39 PDT
|
CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS COULD GO NATIONWIDE
May 5, 2007
(c) 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Christians in Ni geria, who make up about half the population, are
expressing fears Islamic law already being enforced in northern states
will expand nationwide with the inauguration this month of a new
"devout Muslim" president, according to a report from the Voice
of the Martyrs.
Musa Yar' Adua was governor of Katsina state in northern Ni geria, where
he and nearly a dozen other governors over recent years have imposed
Islamic religious law as the law of the government, officials said.
As a result, Christians have lost basic rights such as having a location
to meet and meeting there, officials have confirmed.
"We have not been allowed to worship freely, as churches have been
denied places of worship. In the Government Reservation Area, for
example, it is not possible to get land for places of worship by
Christians," Rev. Canon Williams said in a Voice of the Martyrs
report.
As WND has reported, Muslim rioters in Ni geria in 2006 were incensed
over cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark, and more than 130
Christians in the Ni gerian cities of Maiduguri and Onitsha were
slaughtered.
The reports documented six children burned to ashes in front of their
father, VOM said.
WND also has reported nearly 1,000 homes of Christians and many churches
have been destroyed in those regions, and documentation of Islamic law is
everywhere.
"If you go around villages, you will see people missing one hand or
one foot," explained Rev. Obiora Ike. "Do you think that's the
result of an illness? That is the result of sharia law."
More than 10,000 Christians have been martyred in the region since the
Islamic law was imposed in the region in 1999, and Voice of the Martyrs
has helped surviving family members through its Families of Martyrs Fund
with Care Packs, Village Outreach packs and words of encouragement to
believers who stand for their faith "amidst volatile, uncertain
conditions.
"The election of Yar' Adua will aggravate the problems of Christians
in northern Ni geria. Our fear is that under a Muslim president,
religious liberty will be eroded," another pastor said in the VOM
report.
Under Yar' Adua's supervision in Katsina, the government set up a system
to deliberately deny permission for any Christian churches to acquire
land or build. "Government agencies [also] arbitrarily closed some
churches," according to the report.
In just recent weeks and months, persecution of Christians has increased
there. Alhassan Adamu, the secretary of the board of an evangelical
Christian school, said persecution now is commonplace.
"There is persecution of converts from Islam to Christianity,
destruction of churches, discrimination against Christians and denial of
admission of Christian students in public schools, to name a few,"
he said.
Yar' Adua is a former chemistry teacher whose political pedigree dates to
the 1960s when his father was minister in the post-independence
administration. His late brother also was an army general under President
Olusegun Obasanjo during the 1970s.
Political analysts in Ni geria confirm that he is not known for his
tolerance of opposition, and his critics there describe him as
totalitarian.
He has told reporters that the government must "earn" its
"moral authority."
Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry
working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith,
and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in
Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices. It
was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started
smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard
was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his
refusal to recant Christianity. He eventually was released in 1964 and
the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the
U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to
show the deep torture wound scars on his body. The group that later was
renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book,
"Tortured for Christ," was released.
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55544
-------------------------------
"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them
which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."
(Hebrews 13:3)
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against
you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great
is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were
before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)
Fair Use Notice: This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. The moderator is making it available in an effort to advance
understanding scriptural, political, and social justice issues, etc. The
moderator believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of this
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material is
distributed without profit to those who have by subscribing to this
eGroup have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and
educational purposes. It must not be used for profit!
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the opinions of
the moderator.
TO UNSUBSCRIBE GO TO:
http://groups.LandmarkBibleBaptist.net
THIS MESSAGE IS ARCHIVED
AT:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Persecution-Watch
|
|
 |
|
