Photos by Compass Direct (Inside photo of 14-year-old Uche Edward, one of the victims)
Nigeria (MNN) ― An Islamic militant group recently kidnapped two Christian teenage girls in northern Nigeria, with the intent of forcible conversion. Their rescue ignited a riot that destroyed six churches in Bauchi State.
Bernie Daniel with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says this highlights a trend: "Kidnapping teenage Christian girls by militant Muslims has become kind of a recurrent and ongoing practice. There are 13 Christian teenage girls who have been abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to older Muslim men so that their whereabouts are still unknown."
On May 12, 15-year-old Mary Chikwodi Okoye and 14-year-old Uche Edward were kidnapped by Muslims in Ningi for just that purpose. Police took the two girls, who had been under foster care, to safety in southeastern Nigeria where their biological parents live.
According to a Compass Direct report, the day after the girls were rescued, Hisbah Command Muslims went on a rampage, attacking Christians and setting fire to the churches. The Hisbah Command is a paramilitary arm of Kano state's Sharia Commission, responsible for enforcing Islamic law.
When the dust settled, Deeper Life Bible Church, St. Mary's Catholic Church, All Souls Anglican Church, Church of Christ in Nigeria, Redeemed Christian Church of God, and the Redeemed People's Mission were in ruins.
The pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church says the violence has taken its toll on ministry, too. The congregation of that church has shrunk to 40 people from the 130 who attended before the attack.
Because this attack was carried out by Hisbah Command, a paramilitary arm of Kano state's Sharia Commission, trouble won't be ending in the foreseeable future. Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, and several of the states have adopted Sharia law for all civil cases.
But Daniel says the violence will have little impact overall on the vibrancy of the church. "Nigeria is a nation where there is an active evangelism both in the southern parts of the nation and also in the northern-dominated states. Evangelism will continue. The church of Nigeria will continue to grow, despite this opposition from Islamic militants."
