Guardian

AGAIN, persons, intent on persecution, attacked the Nigerian Church on Christmas day. Their wish: that the Christian minority lives in constant fear.

Gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram members, attacked the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) at Piri village near Potiskum in Yobe State, at about 1:00am. The church was having a prayer session. The attackers slit the throat of the pastor, Yohana Sini, and that of another member, in the presence of their wives and children. Four people were shot. Several others sustained serious injuries. The murderers, armed with explosives, destroyed the church and set ablaze 21 houses during the three-hour operation.

These attacks on churches and Christians have been constant in the past two years. On October 28, 2012, a suicide bomber attacked St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Ugwan Yero, in Malali, Kaduna. The satanic agent rammed his Honda CRV into the children’s section, as the church took Communion, killing eight people and injuring several others.

I wept, as I watched on TV the dismembered bodies of innocent children. I ask: what crimes have these little one committed?

On Christmas day, 2011, a Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, was bombed, leaving several worshipers dead or maimed. The same day, another church was blown up in Bauchi.

Who are behind these massacres? Why attack Christians and churches when the problem was initially a face-off between Islamic sects in the Northeastern part of the country? Where were security agents when the Piri incident occurred? The government and security agencies had sufficient intelligence that there would be attacks on Christmas day. What have northern governors, Muslim leaders, serving and former military leaders and traditional rulers done to stop the madness? Have they done enough? Why have some refused to say anything publicly or condemn the killings?

Why are mosques spared but churches destroyed? Have you read of any mosque that was bombed? Is the silence suggestive of a conspiracy? What has government done about this? Has the military done its best? Does it know that war has been declared against the nation? If this is done under a Christian president, what would happen when a Muslim takes over? Why is the international community watching from? Does it realise that terrorism has no boundary?

I leave some of you with the words of Mordecai to Queen Esther, at a time when the people of God faced similar threat: “Don’t think, for a moment, that you will escape there in the palace when all other Jews (others) are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.”

Compliments of the Season!

Rev. Agbo is a minister with the Assemblies of God Nigeria This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it