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Four Christian Farmers Killed by Muslim Fulani Herdsmen in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Professor Felix Ilesanmi, chaplain of Trinity Chapel at the Federal University of Technology, Yola, was kidnapped in northeastern Nigeria. (Morning Star News) [modified]
The four members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Agban village, near Kagoro in Kaduna state’s Kaura County, were farmers who were killed in the early morning hours, villagers said.
“Hosea Ayuba, Ado Adamu, Abagu Danladi and Kusa Danladi were killed by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen,” area resident Derek Christopher told Morning Star News in a text message. “They were attacked with machetes, and their corpses had machetes cut wounds. The herdsmen came to the area in a minivan and a motorbike.”
A relative of Ayuba, Williams Adamu, mourned the loss, calling the latest attack in the area, “one too many.” Herdsmen also attacked Agban in 2017 and 2015.
A member of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Agban, Gideon Akut, and another village Christian, Didam Ashio, also said that the four named Christians had been killed by Fulani herdsmen.
“Please help me pray for my dear Agban community,” Ashio told Morning Star News.
Christopher said area Christians mobilized to pursue the herdsmen, who reportedly also stole three cows, apprehended the killers and turned them over to police in Kafanchan town, Jema’a County.
Kaduna State Police Command spokesman Yakubu Sabo said in a statement that the murders were reported at 3 a.m. to the Kafanchan station “through our operatives at a security checkpoint.”
“A team of police detectives led by the Area Commander, Kafanchan, acted on a tip-off and intercepted a bus with Reg. No. BLD 43 XA conveying three suspected armed men,” he said. “Investigation is already on over the killing at Agban.”
He reportedly identified the two captured suspects as Sadiq Umar and Umar Abubakar, both of Unguwan Nungu of Jema’a County. Efforts were underway to capture fleeing accomplices, he added.
Previously herdsmen attacked Agban village on Feb. 21, 2017, shooting dead five Christians – Emmanuel Gabriel, Kalat Boniface, Victor Joseph, Lucky Iliya and Zakaria Kabok. Herdsmen also attacked Agban on Feb. 20, 2015, sources said.
Kidnapped Professor Released
On the same day, Nov. 14 as the attack in Kaduna state, gunmen in military fatigues in northeast Nigeria kidnapped a chaplain at a public university, sources said. He was reportedly released within a week.
The five men kidnapped professor Felix Ilesanmi from the campus of Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH) in Yola, Adamawa state, at about 8:30 p.m., at gunpoint, area residents told Morning Star News.
Chaplain of Trinity Chapel at the Federal University of Technology, Yola (FUTY) on the MAUTECH campus, Ilesanmi teaches at FUTY’s department of Urban and Regional Planning.
Area resident Rebecca Musa told Morning Star News he was taken from his apartment on the university campus in the Girei area of Yola by five armed gunmen who took him away on motorbikes. Zidon Love, another resident of the area in Yola, said Ilesanmi was kidnapped at 8:30 p.m. by five gunmen in military uniform.
“They collected his wife’s phone also,” Love said. “They carried him from his house within the university in a vehicle, but on getting outside the school put him on a [motor]bike and rode off.”
Ilesanmi is also area chairman of the Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES), Love said. On Oct. 16, sources said, he had led Christian students and staff members of the university through teachings on the power of the Holy Spirit in leading people to Christ.
Adamawa State Police Command spokesman Suleiman Nguroje was quoted in local press on Tuesday (Nov. 19) as saying Ilesanmi had been released. He said the unidentified kidnappers abandoned him, but terms of the release were unknown.
In October, a professor of Soil Science at the university, Adamu Zata, was kidnapped. He had also been kidnapped in October 2018.
Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.
Christian Poisoned by Muslim Brothers in Eastern Uganda, Sources Say
(Morning Star News) – A Christian father of four in Uganda was discharged from a hospital on Monday (Nov. 18), eight days after Muslim relatives poisoned his food for leaving Islam, sources said.
Ronald Rajab Nayekuliza, 48, had eaten food tainted with pesticide at a memorial for his deceased father in Kakola village, Namutumba District in eastern Uganda on Nov. 10, he told Morning Star News.
His wife said the poisoning struck fear in the Christian community.
“The members of the church are gripped with fear and failed to attend church service on Sunday, Nov. 18,” she told Morning Star News, requesting her name be withheld. “We need prayers so that God may guide us as we face uncertainty of tomorrow within a hostile environment of Muslim relatives.”
Nayekuliza said he had felt compelled to attend the gathering even though his brothers had killed six of his piglets two days before, part of increased opposition this year.
Six months after putting his faith in Christ in 2017, Nayekuliza had donated a small portion of land inherited from his Muslim father, who died in 2009, for construction of a church building. His four brothers began building a mosque nearby.
Since 2018 villagers have been throwing stones at the church building during Sunday worship services, Nayekuliza said.
Earlier this year, his older brother, Anus Wako, began sending him written warnings to remove the church building and to stop raising pigs on the ancestral land, Nayekuliza said.
“You rearing pigs is against the faith of our father,” Wako wrote. “We are from a Muslim family, and our father did not allow the keeping of pigs. While our father was still alive, you were a Muslim; that is why he gave you land to live in, not for the construction of the church. Our family has become a laughingstock to our Muslim neighbors.”
Early on the morning of Nov. 8, the six piglets were killed, he said.
“I was extremely shocked to wake up to find six of our piglets killed,” Nayekuliza said.
“I knew it must be my brothers; that really confirmed my earlier fears. My brothers had threatened me with witchcraft as well as receiving curses from Allah. This has made me live in great fear of my life and that of my family.”
Earlier this month his four brothers – Wako, Kalipan Waswa, Hakim Mutwabule and Dambo Magid – invited clan leaders, local council leaders, residents and all family members for a special memorial service in honor of their late father, Mwalimu Sowedi Nawandyo, on Nov. 10.
“They had planned the meeting without involving me,” Nayekuliza said. “In any case, I attended because they said it was in honor of our late father. It was a great celebration. Many people attended, and many goats and chicken were slaughtered.”
As guests were leaving the celebration, Nayekuliza looked restless, his wife said.
“He told me that he was feeling a kind of nausea,” she told Morning Star News. “Immediately he started to vomit, then followed by diarrhea, with fever and complaining of abdominal pain. We then rushed him to Ivukula Health Centre III. As we arrived at the hospital, my husband had lost consciousness.”
After admitting him to the hospital, she and another Christian on Nov. 10 reported the tainting of Nayekuliza’s food with a toxic substance related to organophosphate insecticides. They filed the complaint at Ivukula police station under the reference number 5432 /10/11/2019, and police rushed to his older brother’s house.
“When the four brothers saw the police vehicle, two of them fled,” a Christian friend said. “The police arrested two brothers, Anus Wako and Kalipan Waswa, who were released on bond after four days.”
Nayekuliza’s wife said he is still recovering from the poisoning.
“My husband is better but still very weak, with blurry vision and feeling numbness in his body,” she said. “We need prayers and more medical attention for him.”
The couple has three children, ages 12, 10 and 7, and she is pregnant with another.
Nayekuliza has been the leader of a small church of 30 members since 2017. In March 2017 a church pastor had told him about Christ’s love, he said.
“After several weeks, conviction came to me,” Nayekuliza said. “I invited him again to my home, and thereafter I gave my life to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
The poisoning is the latest of many cases of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another.
Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
Tonight on Persecution Watch: Praying for the Inhumane Suffering of Eritrean Christians (Nov. 21, 2019)
(Voice of the Persecuted) Before praying for Eritrea, we want to pray for: Leah Sharibu and Alice, made slaves for life by Boko Haram.
Eritrea:
Population: 5.2 million, Christians 2.5 million
Horrific prisons and human rights atrocities. Since 1993, President Afwerki has overseen an authoritarian brutal regime that rests on massive human rights violations. During the 2019 World Watch List reporting period, government security forces conducted many house-to-house raids and imprisoned hundreds of Christians in inhumane conditions, including small shipping containers in scorching heat. Protestants, in particular, face serious problems in accessing community resources, especially social services provided by the State.
06/07/2019 30 Christians were arrested on Monday, June 3, while praying at nondenominational churches in three different locations in Asmara, Eritrea. This news comes shortly after the arrest of 141 Christians in Asmara in early May. According to local reports, the arrested individuals will be freed only if they disavow their faith.
The current Eritrean government only recognizes four religious affiliations, including Sunni Islam, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, the Catholic Church, and Orthodox Christianity, even though the constitution proclaims religious freedom. Consequently, religious minorities outside of these four groups face consistent opposition from government bodies.
Eritrean police officers are known to carry out raids on private homes where devotees of unrecognized religions, especially Pentecostal Christians, meet for community prayer. In this week’s raid, Pentecostal Christians were targeted while they prayed in their community churches. The condition of the jails these Christians are sent is most troubling. Eritrea is known for imprisoning dissidents in metal shipping containers in the heat of its desert climate.
At least 10 prisons around the country are holding hundreds of prisoners who have been detained for anywhere from a few months to 20 years, according to Release Eritrea, a U.K. charity that highlights Christian persecution in the country. Among them is the former Patriarch of Eritrea Orthodox Church,
Abune Antonios, who is in his 80s and has been under house arrest and incommunicado since 2007. He was deposed after complaining about the government’s interference with the church.
Pray for endurance for brothers and sisters detained in horrific conditions and ask God to give them perseverance in their faith, some of whom still, remain in prison after more than 10 years.
Pray that the International community will focus, shine the light, on the inhuman prison conditions and that will lead to improve the life of prisoners.
Pray for President Afwerki, that God would work in his heart and reveal the truth of the gospel.
Pray for cooperation among the Christians of Eritrea, that they would be one. Tragically, the Orthodox Church in Eritrea sometimes acts as an agent of persecution against other Christians.
Pray to the Lord for Bibles and discipleship materials to be readily available.
Pray to the Lord that He opens the doors to evangelism, that believers can boldly share the Gospel.
Pray to the Lord that that the internet is easily accessible and minister to both believers and non-believers.
Pray that the evangelical churches will be recognized and become legitimate centers for Bible teaching and worship.
Pray for the growth of the church and that the powers of darkness will not prevail.
Blessings,
Andy, Prayer Team Moderator
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What is Persecution Watch?
Persecution Watch is a U.S. national prayer conference call ministry that prays specifically for the global Persecuted Church. For over a decade, Blaine Scogin has led this national network of believers who faithfully pray for the persecuted and the global harvest for the Kingdom of God. The group meets via a free call-in service every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night at 9pm Eastern (please check your time zone). Blaine also serves as Prayer Director for Voice of the Persecuted.
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Coptic Christian Family Attacked in Upper Egypt; Adult Son in Intensive Care
Egypt, (Morning Star News) – A Coptic Christian is in critical condition after he, his mother and brother were stabbed in Egypt on Sunday night (Nov. 17), according to media reports.
The Muslim assailant in a village in Upper Egypt’s Minya Governorate told them that Christians must not sit outside before attacking them, leaving the adult son in critical condition at a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit with several wounds to the stomach, according to media reports.
Area residents told Egyptian news media that a non-Christian with a criminal reputation assaulted the family members with a dagger at about 10:30 p.m. after arguing with them as they sat in front of their house in Nassiriya village, near Beni Mazar. Beni Mazar is 219 kilometers (136 miles) south of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile River.
The residents said the argument started when the assailant, identified only as Ali M., walked by the family members as they sat in front of their house and began shouting for them to go back in, saying no Christians were allowed outside. A Facebook post identified the assailant as a Muslim named Ali Eid Morsi; the post has since been removed.
When the adult son, identified as Shinoda Aziz, objected and stood up to the assailant, the suspect retrieved a dagger from his home, returned and attacked him, according to the area residents. When his mother started screaming, the assailant started stabbing her in the head and also attacked the younger son, cutting his face, they said.
Al Mowatna News reported that news anchor Osama Eid confirmed the attack. The news outlet added that the assailant is known for involvement with drugs and prostitution.
The family reportedly told police the assailant intended to kill them.
Security forces in Minya have reportedly arrested the suspect and are questioning witnesses.
An area source told Morning Star News by phone that the village is tranquil. The area was said to be predominantly Coptic Christian in the country that is about 90 percent Muslim.
Egypt ranked 16th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Muslim Fulani Herdsmen Kill Two Christians in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Funeral of two Christians slain in Agom village, southern Kaduna state. (Morning Star News)
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen in north-central Nigeria on early Thursday morning (Nov. 14) hacked an 87-year-old Christian to death by machete and killed another by gunshot, an area resident said.
A group of herdsmen attacked predominantly Christian Agom village in southern Kaduna state’s Sanga Country at 4:30 a.m., area resident Gabriel Yakubu told Morning Star News by text message. Monday Kura, 87, and Emmanuel Agom, 48, both members of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC), were killed as they slept in their rooms, he said.
“The Fulani herdsmen cut Monday Kura, 87 years, with a machete until he died, while Emmanuel, 48 years, was shot dead with a gun,” Yakubu said. “Sir, we need your prayers as my village is on fire and we are not getting any protection from the government.”
It was the first herdsmen attack on the village, which is four kilometers from the town of Gwantu, he said. The ERCC church is the only church in the village, he said.
The attack could not be immediately confirmed. Agom is located along Wasa Station Road, west of Gwantu, between Kwana Nunbu and Gani Sarki villages, he said.
Sanga County was the site of a Muslim Fulani herdsmen attack on March 16 that killed 10 Christians and burned about 30 houses. That attack also occurred as residents of Nandu Gbok village were sleeping.
The assault followed other attacks in southern Kaduna state that took the lives of 130 Christians.
Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.
Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.
U.S. Muslim stokes violence against Coptic Christians
Some of the most vicious incitement against Christians in Egypt originates from a petite Egyptian woman sitting at a computer in her home in a quiet suburb of New Jersey, reports Coptic Solidarity.
It is not as though Egypt’s Muslim community needs any encouragement to go after Coptic Christians, but Arat (Ayat) Oraby does her part, calling the Copts a “gang” that needs to be boycotted and subjugated.
“The problem of the Christians in Egypt is that they follow the church gang,” she wrote. “They believe that (Coptic Pope) Tawadoros the criminal, or any other criminal who will replace him, was selected by the Lord and speaks on His behalf. The church gang deceives its followers in this despicable way, just like a thief or a swindler from the Middle Ages.”
She often refers to Christians as “Nazarenes,” as they are called in the Quran and by ISIS, and tells Egyptians to boycott Coptic businesses and buy only from fellow Muslims.
A Coptic priest was murdered on the streets of Cairo last week by a young Muslim, the latest in a string of murders and church bombings that began more than a year ago.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism Thursday naming Oraby as the head of the spear when it comes to inciting violence against Egypt’s Christian community. Read More