Category: Nigeria

Suicide Bombers Attack Worship Service in Jos, Nigeria

Nigeria 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.

Churches denounce African children as “witches”

African Children (C) Robin Hammond, SteppingStonesNigeria.org 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.

Nigerian court sentences sect leader to death

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.