Displaying items by tag: ISWAP

The Nigerian government says efforts are under way to release Leah Sharibu, the Christian teenager who was one of 110 girls abducted in 2018 by the Boko Haram group ISWAP. Her classmates were released, but Leah refused to convert to Islam and was declared a ‘slave for life’ by ISWAP while remaining in captivity. The federal government announced it is using the military to ensure Leah and all captives regain their freedom, and armed groups operating in Nigeria’s northwest are now called terrorists. Reacting to the announcement, Dr Kathaza Gondwe, advocacy director for CSW, said, ‘It is belated news as Nigeria’s president has been promising Leah's parents since 2018 that he would work quickly to ensure her release. But it's a welcomed development. We can only pray the government will honour this commitment.’ CSW believes that categorising ISWAP as terrorists will help in how the armed forces deal with them.

Martyrdoms by Boko Haram splinter group occur as US finally adds West African nation to religious freedom watch list.

In another filmed massacre, 11 Nigerian Christians were executed by the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) over the Christmas holiday.

Wearing the orange jumpsuits made familiar by similar executions of Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians in Libya, the first Nigerian victim was shot in the head by the black-clad terrorists who then slit the throats of the remaining ten. It is understood to be the largest group killed by ISWAP, a Boko Haram splinter group, so far.

“This message is to the Christians in the world,” stated the 56-second propaganda video, released December 26, in both Arabic and Hausa, according to The New York Times. “Those who you see in front of us are Christians, and we will shed their blood as revenge for the two dignified sheikhs.”

The reference is to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former ISIS caliph killed by US troops in an October raid in Syria, and Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, his purported successor, who was killed the next day.

The video offered no information about the victims, other than that they were recently seized in Nigeria’s northwest Borno state. But an earlier video was released by ISWAP in which captured aid workers appealed to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, as well as to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The International Crisis Group estimates the jihadist group consists of between 3,500 and 5,000 fighters.

“These agents of darkness are enemies of our common humanity, and they don’t spare any victim, whether they are Muslims or Christians,” stated Buhari, according to al-Jazeera.

Nigeria’s population of 200 million is evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.

Muslim victims have been many, agreed CAN in an earlier statement. But it stated the widespread killing in Nigeria’s north has predominately targeted Christians, who make up 95 percent of those currently detained by jihadists.

“The government has been paying lip service towards securing their freedom,” stated CAN, mentioning in particular the case of Sharibu.

The Christian Association of Nigeria disagreed with the Nigerian government’s position, and commended the US State Department for “standing with the oppressed and the truth.”

The association also criticized Buhari for creating an imbalance in the religious composition of the security council, through recent appointments. “The bitter truth,” CAN stated, “is that Christians are yet to be given any sense of belonging since this government came on board.”

Report by JAYSON CASPER

Full article at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/december/isis-nigeria-executes-christians-iswap-christmas-boko-haram.html

Pray: for these brutal terrorists to be brought to justice and for ISWAP to be defeated by the Nigerian authorities.
Pray: for the families of the 11 victims, that they will know divine comfort and the assurance of the Gospel amidst their grief.
Pray: for the Christian Church in Northern Nigeria, who have suffered persecution and terrorist attacks for many years. May it remain strong and practice biblical forgiveness in the face of adversity.
Pray: that the rights and freedoms of Christians in Nigeria will not be marginalised by changes to the law and constitution.

Boko Haram terrorists abducted three Christian women from their homes in a night-time raid on a mainly Christian town in the far north of Cameroon. They dragged their victims to the outskirts of the town, where they sliced off one ear from each victim. They then released the women, threatening that they would return in the future. The injured women were taken to a clinic about 160 miles away, where they received medical treatment. Boko Haram, operating in the region surrounding Lake Chad, has stepped up attacks on Christian villages in the north. Some villages have been repeatedly targeted, and Christians taken away into captivity. Pray that the cruel extremists will be brought to justice. May the extremism that is now rife in West Africa diminish. Pray that love will conquer hate, and that peace will reign.

More than a month after a video which implied that kidnapped Christian teenager Leah Sharibu had been killed, a presidential spokesman, citing intelligence from security agencies, released a statement stating that the government is negotiating with terrorists for the release of Leah and other captives. He said that lines of communication remain open with Boko Haram kidnappers, now called the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), to secure their release. The government understands how difficult these times are for the family and friends of the kidnapped girls, and is pursuing many options to ensure their safe return. However, the administration does not encourage payment of ransom to secure the release of captives. For this reason, he said, the government has not rushed to yield to the demands of the terrorist group. However, many no longer believe that the government is genuinely working to free the captives.