Teenage Girls Kidnapped By Muslims; Rescue Incites Rampage in Nigeria

Photos from Compass Direct

On May 12, the police rescued two Christian girls, Mary Chikwodi Okoye (15) and Uche Edward (14), who were kidnapped by Muslim militants three weeks ago in the town of Ningi, Bauchi state, according to a May 19 report from Compass Direct. The kidnappers initially took the girls to the house of a Muslim leader in the town of Wudil. Okoye's foster father and a group of believers heard where the girls were being held. When they arrived at the home, however, the girls had been relocated to the residence of a Muslim leader in Ningi. When the team went to this home they were told by the leader that the girls had converted to Islam and could not be released. The police then stepped in and evacuated the girls to eastern Nigeria where they were reunited with their biological parents.

The following day, Muslims associated with a paramilitary arm of Kano state's Sharia Commission went on a rampage, attacking Christians and setting fire to local churches, in protest of the girls' release. Six church buildings -- the 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 Peoples Mission -- were destroyed in the attack. The Muslims also attacked shops belonging to Okoye's foster father, looting and destroying goods worth over 50 million naira ($430,360 CAD).

Thank the Lord that Mary and Uche were safely released. Ask God to strengthen those affected by the mob attack to remain steadfast as they suffer (Revelation 2:10). Pray that young Christian girls in Nigeria who have been kidnapped by Muslims will remain strong in faith and be freed.

For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Nigeria, click here. Go to www.persecution.tv for a preview of VOMC's new DVD, "Nigerian Voices: Testimonies of the Persecuted."

200 million Christians in 60 countries subject to persecution

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- The British Secret Service, MI6, has published an alarming report in the Sunday Express magazine revealing that some 200 million Christians in 60 countries around the world are at risk of suffering persecution, according to a report carried by the Catholic News Agency (CNA) -- www.catholicnewsagency.com.

The report reveals that in the Sudan, for example, "thousands of Christians have been massacred and the fundamentalist government has done little to protect them." In Iraq, "the situation is grave: Christians do not have their own militia to defend them, and Sunni and Shiite factions accuse them of collaborating with the American 'crusaders' and among the hundreds of victims of kidnappings this year there are a growing number of Christians."

"The study also reveals that during the last year, at least seventy Christians were killed in Pakistan. In Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church are often looked down upon: in these three republics of the former Soviet Union, Muslim preachers, 'under the influence of Al Qaeda,' present Christians as followers of a religion closely associated with the despised Western colonialism and they call for their expulsion," the report states.

The CAN story concluded by saying, "North Korea, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda are other countries where Christians are persecuted. North Korea has sent some 50 thousand Christians to concentration camps, while in China some 40 thousand have suffered the same fate. The report also notes the increasing difficulties facing Palestinian Christians due to the progressive radicalization of the Islamic masses in the Middle East."