A Christian woman and the wife of a local
Nigerian pastor was stabbed to death by
attackers last week, reports say, allegedly
because she insulted the Muslim Prophet
Muhammad.
AllAfrica reported that the woman, 74-year-old Bridget Abahime, was followed and killed at a
market in Kano, following accusations that she
had insulted the Islamic faith. Nigeria’s police
say that two suspects connected to the murder
have been arrested, and have deployed further
security to the area to prevent the incident from “degenerating into a major security threat.”
The Christian Association of Nigeria, which
represents followers of Christ who make up
nearly half of Nigeria’s population, condemned
the killing, and questioned why police are not
doing more to protect Christians.
“This barbarism must stop now,” said the
association’s spokesman, the Rev. John Hayab.
He accused police of trying to cover up the
killing.
Muslim groups have also spoken out against
such violence, with the Muslim Rights Concern
calling it “preposterous, barbaric and
unIslamic.”
Nigeria’s President Mohammadu Buhari, also a
Muslim, said that the killing was “utterly
condemnable.”
“Let us ensure that we keep the peace, as
justice will be done,” Buhari vowed. “Let us
learn to respect each other’s faith, so that we
can know each other and live together in
peace.”
Christians in Nigeria face a variety of threats,
from local violence and attacks, to wide-spread
persecution and slaughter at the hands of
extremist groups, such as Boko Haram.
Radical Muslim Fulani herdsmen have also been
a major threat, with close to 500 Christian
farmers in Benue state in central Nigeria being
killed over land disputes throughout the
month of March.
One Christian witness described the attacks at the time: “Entire villages were burned down
completely by Fulani herdsmen. Unidentified
corpses of these Christians were discovered,
properties were looted by these Fulani
invaders. As I speak to you, Fulani herdsmen
are living in the deserted villages. I couldn’t believe what my eyes saw.”
Christian pastors have also been the target of
much violence, with one church leader kidnapped and killed back in April for preaching to Muslims and telling them to repent
for their sins.
“The gang also confessed to have been
responsible for the kidnapping of Pastor
Chukwu Ekere of same Ohigha community and
killed him for the simple reason that the man of
God disturbed them with his preaching of
repentance and also for urging them to shun their nefarious activities and accept God,”
authorities said at the time.
Persecution watchdog groups, such as Open
Doors, have warned that the killing of
Christians in Nigeria has surged by 62 percent
in just one year, documenting that throughout
2015 there were 4,028 killings and 198 church
attacks.
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