Tag: Nigeria

UK Parliament is told Christianity is ‘most persecuted religion’

December 4, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Baroness Warsi, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Human rights, Iraq, Kazakhstan, London, Maaloula, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Sadad, Syria

The Bishop Moussa Coptic Church in Minya was destroyted by pro-Morsi supporters in Egypt, many of whom blamed Christians for his overthrow.David Degner, Getty Images The plight of Christians around the world was discussed in a three-hour debate at the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday. Members of the . . . Read More

Nigeria’s Boko Haram strikes again in Cameroon

December 4, 2013 Cameroon Ansaru, Boko Haram, Far North, Georges Vandenbeusch, Nigeria

In April last year, churches were targeted by suspected Boko Haram militants. Some victims had their throats cut, while others were beaten to death or burned alive. Here is one of the survivors, whose name is being withheld to protect his security.Cameroon Human Rights Monitoring A missionary has been . . . Read More

Boko Haram targets Christian girls

November 19, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Quran, Women

Boko Haram is abducting Christian women, converting them to Islam on pain of death and then forcing them to marry its fighters, reports Reuters. Reuters tells the story of 19-year-old Christian Hajja, who was abducted by the Islamist group in July and was then forced to work as their slave. . . . Read More

French priest ‘kidnapped’ by Nigeria’s Boko Haram in Cameroon

November 19, 2013 Cameroon Ansaru, Boko Haram, Georges Vandenbeusch, Katsina, Kidnapping, Nguetchewe, Nigeria, Sahel

A French priest abducted in northern Cameroon is said to be in the hands of Boko Haram. “I can confirm that the French priest is in the hands of Mujahideen [fighters] from Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad [Boko Haram’s Arabic name], who carried out the operation that was co-ordinated with Ansaru,” an . . . Read More

U.S. tags Boko Haram as terrorists

November 14, 2013 Nigeria Ansaru, Boko Haram, Children, Nigeria, Women

The United States has made official what Nigeria’s churches have long asserted: Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation. The state department announced on Thursday it has designated Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist organisation”, and as “specially designated global terrorists”. The Islamist insurgent group “is responsible for thousands of deaths in northeast . . . Read More

Number of Christian martyrs continues to cause debate

November 13, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Peshawar, Sudan, Syria

Ninety-six Christians died in the twin attacks on All Saints Church in Peshawar.World Watch Monitor The debate over the precise number of Christians martyred each year continues. In May, a Vatican spokesman told the United Nations Human Rights Council that as many as 100,000 Christians are martyred each year. . . . Read More

Boko Haram killing spree claims 110 Nigerians

October 1, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Catholics, Jos, Kaduna, Nigeria, Sharia, Yobe

The militant Islamist sect Boko Haram is suspected of killing at least 110 people of various faiths across Nigeria during the past week, prompting the country’s top Catholic bishop to declare the rebel movement “has no limits.” On Thursday, Sept. 26, gunmen killed Rev. Augustine Yohana, a Catholic priest, and . . . Read More

Violence locks down Nigerian town

September 24, 2013 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Nigeria

The largely Christian Nigerian town of Kafanchan is under 24-hour curfew after an outburst of violence Friday that left 10 people dead. News reports vary on the details of the violence, but generally agree that it involved two groups of youths – those indigenous to southern Kaduna state and those . . . Read More

Dozens of ‘noisy’ churches silenced in Cameroon

September 3, 2013 Cameroon Bamenda, Cameroon, Catholics, Churches, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Proselytism, Protestants, Yaoundé

The government of Cameroon has ordered the closure of dozens of churches in an attempt to put an end to what it considers to be anarchy among some Christian organisations. The measure, which authorities began to impose on August 23, targets Pentecostal churches, which are not officially recognised. The minister . . . Read More

Report: Nigeria violence is sectarian

August 20, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Religious freedom

Boko Haram is the foremost perpetrator of religiously motivated violence in Nigeria, claims a new report issued by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The report, issued Aug. 19 as an update to a July 2012 report, documents dozens of Boko Haram attacks on churches and individual Christians since . . . Read More

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