Christian Persecution Jan/Feb 2020

Ransom Paid, Pastor’s Wife Killed
NIGERIA
Muslim Fulani herdsmen kidnapped and killed a pastor’s wife in Nigeria three days after killing a Baptist pastor in another part of Kaduna state.

Her husband, the Rev. Ishaku Katung of the Evangelical Church Winning All congregation in Bagoma, escaped but was wounded by gunfire when the Muslims broke into their home on church premises as they slept.

Unaware that Esther Ishaku Katung had been killed, her family paid a 250,000 naira ($690) ransom before discovering her body, reported morningstarnews.org.

Esther and two other victims had escaped, but Esther was recaptured. Furious, the Muslims broke her legs to prevent her from escaping and smashed her head, leading to her death. Then they dumped her body in the bush and continued to demand the ransom. To read the full article by morningstarnews.org, go to tinyurl.com/morningstarESTHER.

Muslims Slaughter Christian’s Family
UGANDA
A 36-year-old Christian near Kampala, Uganda, is mourning the deaths of his 6-year-old son; 9-year-old daughter; 56-year-old mother, Nankya Hamidah; and stepfather who perished when Muslim extremists set their house ablaze, morningstarnews.org reported.

Ali Nakabale’s wife and other area Muslims became enraged that he and his mother converted from Islam to Christianity at an open-air evangelistic event in August 2018.

The distraught Nakabale said the bodies of his loved ones were burned beyond recognition.

“We saw fire emanating from the house of Hamidah with loud chants from Muslims saying, ‘Allah Akbar [Allah is greater],’” said a neighbor on condition of anonymity. Also killed was Joseph Masembe, who had also left Islam to follow Christ and had married Hamidah in November 2018 after her husband’s death. To read the full article, go to tinyurl.com/morningstarUGANDA.

Boko Haram Executes Two Christian Aid Workers
NIGERIA
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has released a video showing the execution of two Christian aid workers in Nigeria.

Lawrence Duna Dacighir and Godfrey Ali Shikagham, both members of the Church of Christ in Nations in Plateau state, are shown kneeling while three masked, armed men stand behind them and shoot them. The two young men went to Maiduguri to help build shelters for people displaced by Islamic violence, reported morningstarnews.org.

Speaking in the Hausa language, one terrorist says in the video that they will kill every Christian they capture to avenge Muslims killed in past religious conflicts in Nigeria. To read the full article, go to tinyurl.com/morningstarBOKOHARAM.

Bible Translator Butchered, Wife’s Arm Chopped Off
CAMEROON
Bible translator Angus Abraham Fung was one of seven people butchered to death during an overnight attack in Cameroon, and his wife’s arm was cut off, reported Samuel Smith of christianpost.com. Muslim Fulani herdsmen allegedly carried out the attack in the town of Wum, in Cameroon’s violence-ridden Anglophone region where separatists are fighting for independence.

Efi Tembon, a ministry leader who worked in Wum before being forced to flee the country after speaking to the U.S. Congress about the conflict in June 2018, said the Muslim herders stormed five homes that night. “They went into houses and pulled out the people,” Tembon explained. “They attacked in the night and nobody was expecting. They just went into the home, pulled them out, and slaughtered them.”

Smith reported, “Fung was in his sixties and served for years with the Aghem Bible translation project in Cameroon, working on a New Testament translation in the Aghem language, which was completed in 2016.” Although more than 3,000 copies were published, the war in the region has prevented distribution, Tembon said. The war has taken thousands of lives. To read the full article, go to tinyurl.com/christianpostTRANSLATOR.