Displaying items by tag: killing
Burkina Faso: more attacks generate more fear
The army in Burkina Faso needs to contain spreading violence by al-Qaeda and IS. More than thirty men, women, and children were killed by 100 rebels burning down homes and shooting people trying to escape. Survivors are praying for peace and are very afraid. One week earlier two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were killed, and a soldier went missing when an anti-poaching patrol was ambushed by rebels. Another 18 people were killed in a different village. Last year the government enlisted volunteer militiamen to help the army, but they incurred retaliation by the rebels attacking them and the communities they helped. Armed groups have driven religious and ethnic tensions between farming and herding communities in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to boost recruitment among marginalised communities. The UN said worsening violence has led to one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises.
Burkina Faso: 6 killed for following Jesus
THEY REFUSED TO DENOUNCE JESUS — PASTOR, 5 OTHERS SHOT AFTER CHURCH SERVICE IN BURKINA FASO
Last Sunday seemed like any Sunday for 80-year-old Pastor Pierre OuIt, who has spent 40 years serving his church and Sirgadji village community in the northeastern Soum province of Burkina Faso. On April 28, he gathered for worship with his congregation in the West African country. And like every Sunday, he preached the Word of God with the wisdom that seasoned years of life and ministry bring.
But shortly after the service, an ordinary Sunday suddenly turned deadly and a church building where worshippers had just gathered became a crime scene.
KILLED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS
At about 1 pm, while Pastor Pierre was still talking with several congregants in the churchyard, a dozen men on motorbikes stormed the area.
A local leader who wished to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor: “The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused.”
Reportedly, the attackers gathered Pastor Pierre and the five other congregants under a tree and then confiscated their Bibles and cell phones.
“Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead,” the leader said.
In addition to Pastor Pierre, the attackers killed his son, Wend-Kuni, and his brother-in-law (a church deacon), Zoéyandé Sawadogo, as well as believers Sayouba and Arouna Sawadogo, and a primary school teacher, Elie Boena. Another was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
The men then set the church building and two motorbikes on fire. Before they left, they stole sheep and a bag of rice from Pastor Pierre’s home.
He and his five congregants were buried the same day in a ceremony that drew people from both Christian and Muslim communities. The pastor leaves behind his wife and six other children.
Other locals reported that the next day, the same attackers (some of them known to village residents as “young men who’ve been radicalized”) came back into the village “searching for Christians.”
The sources say the armed groups can move with impunity because of the lack of law enforcement in the area in the West African country.
“I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN LEAVE”
Previously, Pastor Pierre told relatives about his concerns over the deterioration of security in the region, though there had been no incidents in his village.
The community leader said that when he and others advised the pastor to leave the area, he refused, saying he “would rather die for his faith than leave the community he has been serving for 40 years.”
In the last few months, more than 100 Christians have fled the area, moving farther south, more than 46 miles away. In February, armed men believed to be Islamist militants killed a church leader in the southeast region of Nohao, as he was returning from Togo.
Last Sunday’s violence in Burkina Faso that took the life of Pastor Pierre and his five congregants appears to have been the first attack, specifically on a church building, in which believers in Burkina Faso have been killed by Islamist extremists.
Pray: for the families of the martyrs, that they will have the grace to forgive the attackers.
Pray: for protection of Christians facing persecution daily, around the world.
Pray: for the attackers to be brought to justice.
May 7, 2019 by Lindy Lowry
Nigeria: British aid worker killed
Mercy Corps posted on their twitter account, ‘It is with great sorrow that we share heartbreaking news: Faye Mooney, our communication specialist in Nigeria, was killed in an attack in Kaduna state on Good Friday. Our entire organisation is grieving with her family during this difficult time.’ Nigeria’s president, Bukola Saraki, has tweeted his reaction to the killing: ‘My heartfelt prayers go out to all the families affected by Friday’s attack in Kaduna. Deep condolences to the government of the United Kingdom and Mercy Corps, over the death of the British aid worker, Faye Mooney, who was killed in the attack.’ He added, ‘It is my fervent hope that our security officials do everything in their power to rescue those that were abducted, so that they can be reunited with their loved ones as soon as possible.’