Six Pastors Killed, 40 Churches Razed in Jos, Nigeria Violence

December 16, 2008 – 4:03 pm

CDN:

JOS, Nigeria, December 11 (Compass Direct News) – The murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property on Nov. 28-29 left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders. More than 25,000 persons have been displaced in the two days of violence, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. What began as outrage over suspected vote fraud in local elections quickly hit the religious fault line that quakes from time to time in this city located between the Islamic north and Christian south, as angry Muslims took aim at Christian sites rather than at political targets. Police and troops reportedly killed about 400 rampaging Muslims in an effort to quell the unrest, and Islamists shot, slashed or stabbed to death most of more than 100 Christians killed. Among Christians killed was Joseph Yari of the Evangelical Church of West Africa. The Rev. Emmanuel Kyari, pastor of Christ Baptist Church, Tudun-Wada, told Compass that Yari died helping other Christians who repelled Muslim fanatics bent on burning down his church building. “Yari was standing beside my wife when he was shot by Muslims,” Rev. Kyari said. “In addition to Yari who was killed, there were also three other Christians who were shot, and two died instantly.”

Entire article.

Sidenote: “Religion in Nigeria” Wikipedia page offers helpful information on the religious makeup of Nigeria. Interesting to note the existence of Chrislam in Nigeria [#4 in the list of "other religions" in the Wikipedia article] - a “blend of Christianity and Islam that takes practises from both the Bible and the Koran” that “hopes to quell religious feuds among Nigerians.”