Christian Bishop In Nigeria: ‘If Nigeria Falls To Islamist Extremists All Of Africa Will Be At Risk’
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All of Africa already is …
Revelation 13:15, “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.”
Worship Allah. Or else.
By Joop Koopman, The Huffington Post – “Bishop Hyacinth Egbebo is the administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bomadi, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, in the heart of the country’s oil-rich but economically-deprived south. Nigerian Christians are confronted with the growing threat of radical Islam in the form of the extremely violent anti-Christian Boko Haram sect, which was declared a terrorist organization by the U.S.
With 160 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Just over 50 percent of the people are Christians, who form the majority in southern Nigeria; Muslims account for another 45 percent of the population, largely living in northern Nigeria. There are 30 million Catholics in the country. In 2012, close to 1,000 Christians died because of their faith in Nigeria, according to reports, and Boka Haram is responsible for the deaths of at least 700 Christians in 2013.
According to the bishop, Nigeria’s well-being holds the key to fate of the African content. ‘If Nigeria falls to Islamic extremists,’ he says, ‘all of Africa will be at risk.’ Bishop Egbebo spoke with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need Jan. 1, 2014.
Fulani tribesman in conjunction with Boko Haram militants massacred 70 Christians late last year in northern Nigeria and there are reports practically every week of new attacks. The group is said to charge the government with not responding to Christian attacks on Muslims. Is there any validity to that claim?
Revenge killings did take place in Jos, two years ago, and in Kaduna last winter, both of which are Christian strongholds. But the bishops strongly condemned the murder of Muslims at the hand of Christians, and such revenge attacks are very few now. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference, has also called attention to what he calls Islamic propaganda — exaggerations of the number of Muslims killed — and he also pointed to instances where Muslims included the bodies of Christian victims among their own dead. The bishops have prevailed however, in the face of Boko Haram’s effort to provoke Christians into acts of retaliation and create chaos in the country. Of course, some Christians fight back if they are attacked.
What is the appeal of radical Islam? Why this hatred of Christians?
Boko Haram wants an Islamic state in the North, imposing shariah law on everyone. Hence, everything that is an obstacle to implementing that goal becomes a target for violence. Those obstacles include the government itself, the constitution, as well as the police and the army. Christians, moreover, are associated with the West, with the values of freedom and democracy and the promotion of education. That’s why Boko Haram is even attacking schools and killing children. These radicals believe that Western education should be forbidden — anything that builds up the Christian ethos.” Read more.
Flashback: Nigerian Church Leaders: Muslims Are Out To Destroy Christians, ‘They Are Making Worship Services Impossible’ – “In the southeastern part of Nigeria’s middle belt, Benue state’s Agatu Local Government Area saw deadly attacks on Christian farmers by Muslim, ethnic Fulani herdsmen from May through November that displaced an estimated 10,000 people, Christian leaders said. As in attacks in Plateau state, several of the assailants appeared to be mercenaries from outside the area rather than herdsmen, and locals questioned how the Fulani became so heavily armed. In some of the attacks a herdsmen spokesman alleged stolen cattle as the reason for the bloodshed, but frequently the Nigerian press asserted that motives for the attacks were unknown. Christian leaders, however, said they had no doubt the Muslim assailants aimed to demoralize and destroy Christians.” Read more.
Flashback: Islamists Unleash New Tactic In Its War To Obliterate Christianity In Northern Nigeria: Convert Or Die – “The al-Qaida-linked Islamic group Boko Haram unleashed a new tactic in its war to obliterate Christianity in northern Nigeria: convert or die. Two gunmen from Boko Haram kidnapped Hajja, a 19- year-old Christian in July as she picked corn near her village in the Gwoza hills, a remote part of northeastern Nigeria where a six-month-old government offensive is struggling to contain an insurgency by Boko Haram. ‘If I cried, they beat me. If I spoke, they beat me. They told me I must become a Muslim but I refused again and again,’ Hajja told Reuters in an interview. The Islamists threatened her with a knife pressed to her throat and said her options were to convert to Islam or die.” Read more.
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