Though the Christian Lenten season has come and gone, a group of church leaders in Nigeria has begun another fasting season. This is, however, to call on God for a quick end to the terrorism ravaging parts of the country as Islamist extremists continue to attack communities across the north-eastern region of the country.
In recent times, the Christian and Muslim communities alike have continued to call on the Federal Government to beef up security around religious installations to protect the lives and properties of people in the north eastern part of Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north eastern states and authorized increased military powers to tackle the violence last May, but attacks have nonetheless escalated. Most are attributed to Boko Haram, a militant group.
Earlier this month, 135 people were killed in three separate attacks in Borno State on April 9 and 10, while an explosion at a bus station in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, during rush hour on April 14 resulted in at least 75 fatalities and a further 141 casualties, although these figures are expected to rise.
Around 200 young women were also abducted from a secondary school in Borno State by armed militia on 15 April, with about 50 being able to escape. Members of Boko Haram are known to abduct women and force them into domestic servitude.
According to reports, the relentless violence is having a devastating effect on communities right across the northern states, with towns and villages being torn apart by fighting.
christiantoday.com revealed there are reports that over 200 pastors in Maiduguri, Borno State have either fled, been forced to close their churches, or have been murdered as a result of Boko Haram’s activity in the region.
In response to this violence, however, those that remain have committed to fasting and praying for one week each month.
“We have to stay and uphold the name of Christ in this state,” one pastor named only as James told newsmen.
“We are willing to pay the price for our calling. We don’t only share the Gospel when things are rosy. It is to be done in every situation. Hunger and want will never discourage us. Swords and guns, even the roar of the devil, will only encourage us to stand first for Christ.
“If we die, our blood will speak about Christ to our killers.”
Another pastor, Reverend Pona, said: “We are seeking the face of God in this situation. Brethren are being killed all over the state. Thousands of homes have been destroyed. Our churches have not been spared. We are being struck from every direction.
“Only Christ can deliver us from this trial.”
Meanwhile, President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has declared that those behind the dreaded Boko Haram sect will be exposed before the end of 2014.
Oritsejafor who made the declaration at Easter Sunday Service at his Word of Life Bible Church in Warri, Delta State, stated that despite being the first Nigerian to openly call on the United States’ Congress to declare Boko Haram a terrorist group, someone recently sent him a text accusing him of being behind Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, elusive leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, who had earlier been declared killed by Nigeria Military authorities has averred in a new video posted on the internet that he is in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, boasting that no one can locate him despite seating in Abuja.
The Boko Haram leader, who threatened more violent attacks, said the sect is behind the Nyanya Motor Park blast which claimed no less than 75 lives, leaving over a hundred persons with varying degree of injuries.
Also, National Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Apostle Emmanuel Nuhu Kure, who has remained a consistent voice from the northern Nigeria, told Sunday Newswatch that, “the people in the Boko Haram sect are not spirits, God has not allowed this regime the wisdom needed to take them out, but anything that has a beginning has an end,” he said.
The Visioneer of the Throneroom Trust Ministry based in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, added that “they are just a phase in Nigerian history, like Maitasini passed away, I see their end also soon, whether by the hand of this government or by coincidence or by the crafting of the Spirit of God, but something is about to happen, when God begins to make a man more confident of himself, then he is being prepared for a fall.
“While Nigerians persist in prayers, hoping for an end of the insurgents, the nation has continued to lose precious lives both from the Christian and the Muslim religions. This, however, proves further that terrorism is an evil that affects every Nigerian no matter the religious, political or ethnic background.
“As everyone is affected by the terrorism in north eastern Nigeria, it is not out of place for the nation to declare a national day of prayer. But whether the end has come to the insurgents or not, Nigeria has continued to lose innocent lives from the Christian and the Muslim communities on a daily basis, and the entire population should continue to lift the nation up to God in prayers for a lasting solution.”
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