SPURNED SUITOR TRIGGERS VIOLENCE
Muslim man responds to young Christian woman’s refusal with ‘blasphemy’ accusation.
A Muslim man’s frustrated desire to marry a young Christian woman resulted in him accusing her of “blasphemy,” triggering violence in this town in Bauchi state on February 2 that left one person dead, seven Christians hospitalized and destroyed five churches.
The Rev. Garba Gaius, pastor of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) congregation to which the young woman belongs, told Compass that Paitence Yusuf was at home the night of February 1 when she learned that a young man was asking her to meet him outside.
She went out to meet with him, and he told her he wanted to befriend and marry her. Surprised at what she was hearing, Rev. Gaius said, Yusuf sharply declined his offer.
As she walked back into her house, the man, whose identity has not be disclosed, told her, “I beg you in the name of God and his apostle, Muhammad, to please accept me as your boyfriend,” Rev. Gaius said. He said Yusuf looked the man in the face and replied, “You are pleading in the name of a person I do not know. Jesus I know, but Muhammad I do not know.”
The Muslim man left, Rev. Gaius said, gathering friends and neighbors that night to tell them that Yusuf had blasphemed Muhammad.
“The following morning, the Muslim man took a group of other Muslims to the house of Yusuf, where they confronted her on the allegation of blasphemy against Muhammad,” Rev. Gaius said.
Sensing that the Muslims intended to kill her, Yufus escaped to the town’s police station, he said, where she was kept in protective custody.
“The band of Muslims went after Yusuf to the police station and demanded that she be released to them to be killed in accordance with sharia [Islamic law] for blasphemy,” Rev. Gaius said.
“The police declined to release her, and there and then they attacked the police men on duty and burnt down the police station.”
Police defending the station fired into the crowd, killing one man in his 20s. Shortly after, hundreds of Muslims took to the streets armed with guns, machetes, cudgels and clubs, attacking Christians and injuring many of them, Rev. Gaius said.
Five churches – Rev. Gaius’ own ECWA church, a Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), an Apostolic Church, a Roman Catholic Church, and a Church of Christ in Nigeria – were destroyed, along with homes belonging to Christians, he said. The number of people displaced by the violence reportedly reached 1,000.
Rev. Gaius said such problems have become common, with area Muslims using young Christian women as pretexts for attacking Christians. At the same time, he said, Muslim officials are increasingly making it difficult for area churches to obtain land.
Yusuf, an orphan, is still in protective police custody, the pastor said. She had been living with foster parents in Yana, working with an adult education program.
Muslims Try to Stop Violence
Adamu Shehu, a staff member of the pathology department at Shira General Hospital and a resident of Angwan Turankayi in Yana town, told Compass that he witnessed the burning down of two churches by his fellow Muslims.
“I saw that ECWA Church was set on fire, and they were also trying to set the pastor’s house on fire,” Shehu told Compass. “I and Sarkin Dungu, and also other Muslims in the Angwa, tried to put out the fire, but they attacked us, and I was stoned in the process. Then Sarkin Dungu insisted that our fellow Muslims should not burn the church, but they said, are we not Muslims? Why are we stopping them from burning the church?”
Shehu said he too learned that the rioting was triggered by an encounter between a Muslim and a young Christian woman.
“I learned it was a misunderstanding between a young Muslim and a Christian girl that sparked off the riots,” he said.
Shehu said he saw Christians brought to the hospital for treatment. “Seven Christians were injured,” he said. “Those brought to the hospital at Shira were one man and six women.”
Shehu said it was wrong for fellow Muslims to have attacked Christians for no just cause.
“We are all creation of God, and if we are created by God, it therefore means that Muslims must be prepared to live in peace with people of other faiths, including Christians,” he said. “We did not create anybody, and we cannot therefore say we cannot live in peace with others.”
Shehu identified three catalysts to recent Muslim attacks on Christians in northern Nigeria: undisciplined Muslim youths, politicizing of religion and drunkenness and drug abuse by many Muslims.
“Lack of parental training has led to what we now see,” he said. “How can someone’s child attack others without provocation? Muslim parents must learn how to inculcate godly discipline in their children.”
Local politicians have brought about some of the problems as they have used Muslim youths to perpetuate some atrocities, he said. “These youths are the thugs being used to cause religious conflicts in Nigeria. Politics is indeed poisonous to our existence.”
Drug abuse and drunkenness among Muslim youths has made it easier for authorities to get young people to do their bidding, he added.
“A lot of our youths are engaged in drunkenness and taking of hard drugs,” he said. “Taking of drugs by Muslim youths has contributed to such atrocities. The surprising thing is that some of our Muslim leaders give support to such acts of indiscipline.”
...
Pertinent Links:
1) SPURNED SUITOR TRIGGERS VIOLENCE
Showing posts with label nigeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nigeria. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2008
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - NIGERIA: MOSLEM JIHAD TO BE WAGED ON CHRISTIANS IN SABON GARI
Cracking down on Nigeria's 'pleasure island'
By Senan Murray
The Sharia police, or Hisbah, say they will soon commence raids in an enclave in northern Nigeria's ancient Muslim city of Kano - dubbed by locals as "pleasure island".
The Hisbah have given themselves the task of enforcing morals and Islamic law in the city, but so far have largely left Sabon Gari, or New Town, alone, complete with its bars, brothels and night-clubs.
But they say they must stamp out such "sinfulness" in case it "pollutes" the rest of the city.
Sabon Gari has always been a district populated by "settlers" or non-Muslim southern traders and professionals who have settled and worked in Kano.
But after years of ethnic and religious violence, much of Kano's small Christian population withdrew further to Sabon Gari to seek safety in numbers.
This has resulted in a peaceful co-existence between residents of the area and the rest of the city.
Sabon Gari also happens to be one of Kano's biggest ghettos, with blocked sewers, gullied streets and piles of rubbish on almost every street corner.
Cannabis is also openly smoked in this part of the city and pipe-born water is even rarer than in the rest of Kano.
'Open secret'
Kano is among a dozen states in northern Nigeria practising Sharia law, despite initial strong opposition from the federal government, Christians and human rights groups.
More than a dozen Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning for sexual offences like adultery and homosexuality since the Sharia legal system was introduced in 2000.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Cracking down on Nigeria's 'pleasure island'
By Senan Murray
The Sharia police, or Hisbah, say they will soon commence raids in an enclave in northern Nigeria's ancient Muslim city of Kano - dubbed by locals as "pleasure island".
The Hisbah have given themselves the task of enforcing morals and Islamic law in the city, but so far have largely left Sabon Gari, or New Town, alone, complete with its bars, brothels and night-clubs.
But they say they must stamp out such "sinfulness" in case it "pollutes" the rest of the city.
Sabon Gari has always been a district populated by "settlers" or non-Muslim southern traders and professionals who have settled and worked in Kano.
But after years of ethnic and religious violence, much of Kano's small Christian population withdrew further to Sabon Gari to seek safety in numbers.
This has resulted in a peaceful co-existence between residents of the area and the rest of the city.
Sabon Gari also happens to be one of Kano's biggest ghettos, with blocked sewers, gullied streets and piles of rubbish on almost every street corner.
Cannabis is also openly smoked in this part of the city and pipe-born water is even rarer than in the rest of Kano.
'Open secret'
Kano is among a dozen states in northern Nigeria practising Sharia law, despite initial strong opposition from the federal government, Christians and human rights groups.
More than a dozen Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning for sexual offences like adultery and homosexuality since the Sharia legal system was introduced in 2000.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Cracking down on Nigeria's 'pleasure island'
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - NIGERIA: SHARI'AH COURT JUDGES SHOULD EMULATE THE SUPREME COURT IN THE DELIVERY OF JUSTICE
Emulate S’Court, judge urges Sharia courts
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
Published: Tuesday, 26 Jun 2007
The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Justice Lawal Gummi, has called on Sharia Court judges to emulate the Supreme Court in justice delivery.
He said this would sustain the confidence of the public in the judiciary.
Gummi gave the advice in Abuja on Monday, while speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop organised by the National Judicial Institute for Sharia Court judges, directors and inspectors.
The judge, who was represented by Justice Ishaq Bello, a judge in the FCT judiciary, said the position of the Sharia Court judge, directors and inspectors were essential in the effective dispensation of justice.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop, “Enhancing the administration of justice in Sharia courts,” Gummi said it was carefully chosen ”considering the fact that the nation‘s judiciary is now increasingly under focus at home and abroad.”
The Administrator of NJI, Justice Timothy Oyeyipo, urged the Sharia Court judges to be upright and maintain high standard of integrity while performing their duties.
Oyeyipo said, ”As judges in the Sharia Court who handle the bulk of cases involving Islamic law in both civil and criminal matters, I urge you to set for yourselves a high standard of judicial integrity, incorruptibility, fairness and justice to all parties that come before you.
”You should be the embodiment of a judicial officer who keeps and abide by the oaths of his office.
”Your official and private life should be exemplary and above board. This is important because you more often come into contact with the people at the grassroots who look up to the courts as their last hope.”
Pertinent Links:
1) Emulate S’Court, judge urges Sharia courts
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
Published: Tuesday, 26 Jun 2007
The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Justice Lawal Gummi, has called on Sharia Court judges to emulate the Supreme Court in justice delivery.
He said this would sustain the confidence of the public in the judiciary.
Gummi gave the advice in Abuja on Monday, while speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop organised by the National Judicial Institute for Sharia Court judges, directors and inspectors.
The judge, who was represented by Justice Ishaq Bello, a judge in the FCT judiciary, said the position of the Sharia Court judge, directors and inspectors were essential in the effective dispensation of justice.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop, “Enhancing the administration of justice in Sharia courts,” Gummi said it was carefully chosen ”considering the fact that the nation‘s judiciary is now increasingly under focus at home and abroad.”
The Administrator of NJI, Justice Timothy Oyeyipo, urged the Sharia Court judges to be upright and maintain high standard of integrity while performing their duties.
Oyeyipo said, ”As judges in the Sharia Court who handle the bulk of cases involving Islamic law in both civil and criminal matters, I urge you to set for yourselves a high standard of judicial integrity, incorruptibility, fairness and justice to all parties that come before you.
”You should be the embodiment of a judicial officer who keeps and abide by the oaths of his office.
”Your official and private life should be exemplary and above board. This is important because you more often come into contact with the people at the grassroots who look up to the courts as their last hope.”
Pertinent Links:
1) Emulate S’Court, judge urges Sharia courts
Thursday, May 17, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - NIGERIA: RAPIST RECEIVES DEATH BY STONING
Nigeria sharia court condemns man to death for rape
LAGOS (Reuters) - A Nigerian sharia court has sentenced a 25-year-old herdsman to death by stoning after convicting him of raping two teenage girls in the northeastern state of Bauchi, the official news agency reported on Thursday.
Judge Aliyu Muhammad said he convicted Ade Debo after he confessed and four witnesses testified against him.
"Debo, for your action, you will be stoned to death as ordained by Allah in Chapter 2 of the Holy Koran," Muhammad was quoted as saying by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Debo has 30 days within which to appeal against the judgment, Muhammad said.
Bauchi is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that re-introduced strict punitive elements of Muslim sharia law in 2000 -- a decision that alienated Christian minorities in the states, causing thousands of killings.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Nigeria sharia court condemns man to death for rape
LAGOS (Reuters) - A Nigerian sharia court has sentenced a 25-year-old herdsman to death by stoning after convicting him of raping two teenage girls in the northeastern state of Bauchi, the official news agency reported on Thursday.
Judge Aliyu Muhammad said he convicted Ade Debo after he confessed and four witnesses testified against him.
"Debo, for your action, you will be stoned to death as ordained by Allah in Chapter 2 of the Holy Koran," Muhammad was quoted as saying by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Debo has 30 days within which to appeal against the judgment, Muhammad said.
Bauchi is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that re-introduced strict punitive elements of Muslim sharia law in 2000 -- a decision that alienated Christian minorities in the states, causing thousands of killings.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Nigeria sharia court condemns man to death for rape
Friday, April 27, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - NIGERIA: 5 MOSLEM LESBIAN WIVES HIDE FROM SHARI'AH LAW ENFORCEMENT
You just cannot make this up, you just can't:
Five lesbian 'wives' flee Sharia
A Nigerian lesbian who "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has gone into hiding from the Islamic police, with her partners.
Under Sharia law, adopted in the state seven years ago, homosexuality and same-sex marriages are outlawed and considered very serious offences.
The theatre where the elaborate wedding celebration was held on Sunday has been demolished by Kano city's authorities.
Lesbianism is also illegal under Nigeria's national penal code.
Nigeria's parliament is considering tightening its laws on homosexuality.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Five lesbian 'wives' flee Sharia
Five lesbian 'wives' flee Sharia
A Nigerian lesbian who "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has gone into hiding from the Islamic police, with her partners.
Under Sharia law, adopted in the state seven years ago, homosexuality and same-sex marriages are outlawed and considered very serious offences.
The theatre where the elaborate wedding celebration was held on Sunday has been demolished by Kano city's authorities.
Lesbianism is also illegal under Nigeria's national penal code.
Nigeria's parliament is considering tightening its laws on homosexuality.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Five lesbian 'wives' flee Sharia
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - NIGERIA: CHRISTIAN TEACHER LYNCHED BY MOSLEM STUDENTS
Muslim pupils kill teacher in northeast Nigeria
By Ardo Hazzad
GOMBE, Nigeria (Reuters) - Muslim pupils at a secondary school in northeastern Nigeria beat a teacher to death on Wednesday after accusing her of desecrating the Koran, police and witnesses said.
Oluwatoyin Olusase, a Christian, was invigilating an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam at the school in Gombe state when the incident occurred. The students attacked her outside the school compound after the exam and killed her, witnesses said.
It was not clear exactly what Olusase had done that angered the students.
Police confirmed the killing and said their intervention had prevented the incident from turning into a riot.
"We have received information that a female teacher has been lynched by her students. We are investigating the report," Gombe state police commissioner Joseph Ibi said.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim pupils kill teacher in northeast Nigeria
By Ardo Hazzad
GOMBE, Nigeria (Reuters) - Muslim pupils at a secondary school in northeastern Nigeria beat a teacher to death on Wednesday after accusing her of desecrating the Koran, police and witnesses said.
Oluwatoyin Olusase, a Christian, was invigilating an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam at the school in Gombe state when the incident occurred. The students attacked her outside the school compound after the exam and killed her, witnesses said.
It was not clear exactly what Olusase had done that angered the students.
Police confirmed the killing and said their intervention had prevented the incident from turning into a riot.
"We have received information that a female teacher has been lynched by her students. We are investigating the report," Gombe state police commissioner Joseph Ibi said.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim pupils kill teacher in northeast Nigeria
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
DAR AL HARB / ISLAM - NIGERIA: CHRISTIAN CHILDREN BEING KIDNAPPED IN ORDER TO UNDERGO FORCED CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM
Nigeria Muslim Militants "Kidnap" Christian Children
ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A major Christian rights group has expressed concern that Muslim militants in Nigeria are increasingly kidnapping Christian children to convert them to Islam, BosNewsLife monitored Tuesday, March 20.
The Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia, which is supporting Christians persecuted for their faith, told BosNewsLife it had urged supporters to "pray for the protection of Christians in Nigeria" after reports that the abduction of "teenage Christian boys and girls" is rising in areas that include majority-Muslim Sokoto state.
Compass Direct News, a Christian news agency investigating reports of persecution, quoted unidentified Christian leaders as saying that the kidnappings had become a "common phenomenon" in Sokoto state.
It cited the case of 13-year-old Victor Udo Usen, a member of the Christ Apostolic Church in Sokoto, who went missing in November last year. His mother Esther Udo Usen reportedly failed in her attempt to rescue him in February after a tip from a young Christian girl who raced to Usens' home in the Mabera area of Sokoto city, the state's capital.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Nigeria Muslim Militants "Kidnap" Christian Children
ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A major Christian rights group has expressed concern that Muslim militants in Nigeria are increasingly kidnapping Christian children to convert them to Islam, BosNewsLife monitored Tuesday, March 20.
The Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia, which is supporting Christians persecuted for their faith, told BosNewsLife it had urged supporters to "pray for the protection of Christians in Nigeria" after reports that the abduction of "teenage Christian boys and girls" is rising in areas that include majority-Muslim Sokoto state.
Compass Direct News, a Christian news agency investigating reports of persecution, quoted unidentified Christian leaders as saying that the kidnappings had become a "common phenomenon" in Sokoto state.
It cited the case of 13-year-old Victor Udo Usen, a member of the Christ Apostolic Church in Sokoto, who went missing in November last year. His mother Esther Udo Usen reportedly failed in her attempt to rescue him in February after a tip from a young Christian girl who raced to Usens' home in the Mabera area of Sokoto city, the state's capital.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Nigeria Muslim Militants "Kidnap" Christian Children
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