In Nigeria’s Plateau state, Christian leaders said more Christians have died at the hands of Muslim extremists than the 35 that the military reported thus far in May.
The Nigerian president took pointed criticism for the government’s handling of Muslim extremist violence against Christians.
Two suicide bombers from the Boko Haram Islamist sect drove a car laden with bombs into the worship service of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation, killing at least one Christian girl and injuring dozens of other church members, sources said.
A man claiming to be a spokesman for Boko Haram reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast.
Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed.
The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2 was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.
Muslim extremists with the alleged help of Nigerian army personnel killed 24 Christians this month in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, area sources said.
Plateau Gov. Jonah Jang called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian army because, he said, Muslims in the army have taken sides with Islamist assailants.
Pastors in southeast Nigeria claim illness and poverty are caused by witches who bring terrible misfortune to those around them. And those denounced as witches must be cleansed through deliverance or cast out.
As daylight breaks, and we travel out to the rural villages it becomes apparent the most vulnerable to this stigmatization of witchcraft are children.
An increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files.
Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
“It is an outrage what they are allowing to take place in the name of Christianity,” said Gary Foxcroft, head of nonprofit Stepping Stones Nigeria.
The governor of a south east Nigerian state has denied being involved in a secret ritual that was filmed and uploaded onto the internet.
The suspect who identified himself as Pastor Moses Enebeli was picked-up by the police following a tip-off from members of the public in Ndokwa West council of the state.
Nigerian evangelist Ezekiel Uzoechi is charged with swindling a woman by use of a false prophecy.
A high court in northern Nigeria’s Adamawa state on Tuesday sentenced the leader of an unorthodox and militant Islamic sect on the run for 22 years to death by hanging, state-run Radio Nigeria Kaduna reported. Musa Ali Suleiman was found guilty of three charges of murder, conspiracy and incitement of public disturbance, the report monitored here said.