Politicians in Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria are debating a bill aimed at curbing religious extremism. The Islamic Preaching Bill would outlaw preaching likely to cause a breach of the peace as well as requiring most clerics to obtain a preaching licence. The legislation was proposed after an Islamic sect was blamed for sectarian violence in northern Nigeria last year in which hundreds of people died. Under the new bill, there would be stiff penalties for clerics found guilty of insulting or inciting contempt of any religious belief which causes a breach of the peace. The bill is an attempt to prevent a recurrence of the violence which spread across Nigeria's northern states in July 2009 when supporters of an Islamic sect called Boko Haram - known locally as the ‘Taliban’ - attacked police and government offices.
Pray: that this bill will have the desired effect to prevent the recurrence of violence. (Ps.7:9)
NIGERIA: Bombs kill 24 in mainly Christian area
01 Aug 2013Kano has been among the cities hardest hit during Boko Haram's insurgency, despite the recent lull. On Tuesday four bomb blasts ripped through a mainly Christian area killing 24 people and leaving 3 seriously injured. A small church may have been among the targets. Residents described the area as being littered with the personal belongings of those who ran in fear and confusion once the explosions began. At least three schools have been attacked in northeastern Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram members in recent weeks. Over the weekend, clashes between a vigilante group and Boko Haram members left at least 20 people dead in the village of Dawashe in Borno State. The insurgency is estimated to have claimed more than 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
Pray: for all working tirelessly to support communities affected by violence, may they restore people's hope. May God guide, sustain and strengthen them as they repair broken walls. (Is.58:12)
More: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nigeria-bombs-kill-12-mainly-christian-area-095440715.html#BFwMTVL
NIGERIA: Boko Haram victims recount woes
09 Mar 2013An official and others wept in Abuja after listening to the pastor of All Saints Church recount how 17 Christians were killed for refusing to renounce Jesus Christ. People also heard from Deborah Shetima whose husband was butchered last April, that her two children (7and 9 years-old) were abducted, then Boko Haram returned three months later and killed her third child. The Minister said, ‘If we have become a nation that does not put value on human lives then we are really in a bad place. Listening to these women and seeing what they have to carry alone one feels a sense of abandonment for them. They are invisible to the rest of us - that worries me. We must figure out who we really are; and what have we become as a people and as a nation.’ Also church leaders in NE Nigeria are saying Christians are scared to leave their homes after 8pm and too afraid of Islamic extremist attacks to attend church services. See: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2013/s13030003.htm
Pray: for an end to bombings, killings and abductions, provisions for widows and orphans without a source of livelihood and for desperate communities to know hope, peace and restoration. (Is.54:5; Pr.2:12)
More: http://www.punchng.com/news/ezekwezili-others-weep-as-bharam-victims-recount-woes/
Suspected Islamists have been blamed for the deaths of at least 23 people in separate attacks in north-eastern Nigeria. Witnesses say gunmen apparently targeted hunters selling bush meat in Damboa on Monday, killing 18 people. Strict Muslims are forbidden to eat this type of bush meat. Another five people died on Tuesday when a group of men playing draughts was attacked in Kano. The militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, has staged many attacks in Nigeria. Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of some 1,400 people in central and northern Nigeria since 2010. Last year alone, the group was linked to more than 600 deaths. Meanwhile, reports have emerged of a deadly attack in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria. Gunmen riding on motorbikes opened fire on people playing an outdoor board game, police and witnesses say. Gambling is also strictly forbidden under Islamic law.
Pray: against the evil influence that fanatics like Boko Haram have in the communities. (Ps.37:9)
Nigeria: Boko Haram declares war
26 Jan 2012Police in Nigeria discovered ten more car bombs on Tuesday in Kano, an area already reeling from multiple bombings on Friday. Spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA, Todd Nettleton, says the level of sophistication is what's drawing their concern. ‘This was a very serious attack. It also shows the growing ability of Boko Haram to coordinate attacks and to maximize the body count.’ Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect, claimed the bomb blasts that killed 256 people. The attacks
came shortly after Muslim prayers in that beleaguered nation's second-largest city. This time instead of churches, it was police headquarters and other police stations, a secret police building, and immigration offices that were targeted. According to a video released by the group's leader, the attacks were a response to a refusal by the authorities to release the sect's members from custody. This could amount to starting a civil war and destabilizing the government at the same time.
Pray: against these ongoing conflicts that a solution will be found that will bring ongoing unity and peace. (Jn.17:23)
Nigeria: Blasts rock Nigeria's northeast
09 Jun 2011
A state police chief, said on Tuesday that members of a Muslim group locally known as Boko Haram detonated bombs at two police stations and at St Patrick's Church in the city of Maiduguri killing up to eleven people. The multiple blasts come a day after motorcycle-mounted gunmen shot dead a cleric from a rival sect. The police also blame Boko Haram for killing the cleric on Monday at his home because he had been critical of Boko Haram's violence. Boko Haram has pushed for the implementation of sharia in Borno State. The group has vowed to keep killing people believed to support the establishment until sharia is adopted alongside other demands.
Pray: for tensions to be calmed, fear to be removed, and Boko Haram to be lessened in influence. (Ps.140:8)
More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/06/201167223659877448.html
A suicide bomber crashed the gate of a church compound in this northern Nigerian city this morning, killing himself and at least 10 others and leaving more than 30 injured, according to eyewitnesses and officials. The Islamic extremist Boko Haram group was suspected of detonating the bomb at the gate of Living Faith Church as members were leaving an early morning worship service. The explosion also brought down a wall of the adjacent Harvest Field church, an eyewitness told Compass. ‘Security agents who were within the vicinity of the two churches tried to force the suicide bomber to stop at a security checkpoint, but the bomber crashed his car into the gates of one of the two churches, the Living Faith church, killing many people and injuring many others,’ said Kyemme Nzarmo, a student at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi.
Pray: for peace in Nigeria, that God would enable a breakthrough and that extremists will cease their atrocities. (Ps.34:14)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/nigeria/article_1574817.html
Worried by the activities of Islamic fundamentalist groups, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has called for more vigilance by the federal government to check the rising wave of terrorism. ‘Being more vigilant especially at the borders would help the country checkmate any foreign sponsors of terrorist activities in Nigeria,’ the Catholic Bishops said in a communiqué issued on 14 September at the end of their conference in Umahia in eastern Nigeria. The Nigerian government has been battling the radical Islamic group popularly known as Boko Haram, which has been responsible for various terrorist attacks in the northern parts of the country in which hundreds of persons, especially Christians, have been killed and many churches destroyed. The bishops' call comes on the heels of spirited efforts by the federal government to prevent the spread of anti-US protests by Muslims over a film said to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
Pray: against the terrorist activities that take place in Nigeria and pray that the radical elements will be controlled. (2Cor.11:28)