KANO MUSLIMS PAYS SOLIDARITY VISIT TO CHURCHES

Sequel to conscious effort to bridge the gap between followers of Nigerian two top religion, Concerned Muslims in Kano made history Sunday in the ancient city when the y paid a solidarity visit to Christians in their various places worship.

The visit, the first of its kind in recent Kano history took the Muslims through five denominations of the Christian faith, that includes, Our Lady Of Fatima, ECWA (Hausa service), Baptist Church, Cherubim and Seraphim, and Calvary Life Assembly all located within Sabon Gari area of the municipality.

The solidarity came on the backdrop of move by the Group to douse the content of SMS circulated among Christian faithful by yet to identified individuals or Group warning them of a Jihad to wipe them from the city.

Led by a former National President of PENGASSAN, Bashir Is’haq Bashir in company of Chairman, local chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Ransom Bello assured the Christian Community of Muslim Brothers support all the time and more especially now that the Nation is experiencing serious security challenges.

His words “we are here to deliver a message, a message of peace, a message of hope, a message of peace, a message of solidarity that all Muslims all over Kano are with you, that they are not a source of threat to you but a source of security and in them you have a dependable ally”.

Bashir Is’haq Bashir stated that both faith must downplay our differences and emphasis such factors that bind us together, adding that ‘we must desist from rumour and spreading of falsehood in the collective interest of all.

The former PENAGASSAN activist tasked the follower of both faith from judging the two religion from the action of deviants, stressing that suspicion breed mistrust and mistrust make us drift apart.

He stressed that Muslims and Christian in Nigeria must unite to put all the evil forces that are pulling us apart to shame, quoting a verse in the Quran that says “I have made you Nations and tribe so that you may appreciate one another , and the best among you in the sight of Allah is he who is best in conduct”

Is’haq Bashir declared that going by several teaching of Quran and saying of the Prophet of Islam enjoin Muslim to accept Jesus as Prophet of Islam and accord him the necessary respect whenever his name is mention.

The leader of the Concerned Muslim Brothers who addressed Christian faithful; amidst thunderous applause and shout of Hallelujah tasked both faith to unite and fight corruption, bad Governance, stressing that Muslims and Christian should be their brothers keepers to the Nation to achieve greatness.

According to Is’haq Bashir “we must tell Muhammad the child to be compassionate to Emanuel the child and enjoin Emanuel the grown up to take Muhammad as the best man in his wedding day, so that when they grow up they will not be burdened with the excess luggage that we have been carrying this long”’.

In his response, the CAN local Chairman, Bishop Ransom Bello described the visit to Churches of Concerned Muslim Brothers in Kano as beginning of new era, adding that “its sign of positive thing come while expressing confidence it would go along way to put the state on permanent religious harmony.

Ransom Bello explain that the ‘gesture will certainly open up a new charter in the history of Kano and peaceful coexistence, maintain the need to expand the frontiers in the interest of lasting peace.

Prayers were offered by various Church leaders for continued peace in Kano in particular and the Nation in general, while they enjoin their flock to pass the message to those who were not privileged to host the visitors.

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Boko Haram attack claims 12 in Adamawa

Gunmen, suspected to be members of Boko Haram, yesterday, attacked Christ Apostolic Church in Yola, Adamawa State capital, killing 11 worshippers. Another member died in hospital from bullet wounds.

News of the shooting made residents, mostly non-indigenes, to flee their homes in the night and seek refuge at the General Jalo Army Barracks, Yola, for fear of being killed.

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, campaigned for the re-election of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State despite the nationwide strike called by labour over the recent increase in petrol price.

It was learnt that the unknown gunmen, who rode on motorcycles, entered the church and opened fire on the worshippers. 11 members reportedly died on the spot and several others sustained bullet wounds.

One of the wounded church members reportedly died later, bringing the number of those who died to 12, even as five others are in critical conditions at the Specialist Hospital, Yola.

Last Friday, 12 mourners were killed in Mubi, the commercial nerve centre of the state by suspected members of Boko Haram sect.

Those killed were allegedly holding a meeting on how to raise money to convey home the remains of three of their relatives earlier shot dead by members of the sect on Thursday before they were attacked.

Police in the state said they were investigating the incidents.

… kills SSS officer in Borno

BORNO—An official of the State Security Services, SSS, was, yesterday, killed in Borno State by suspected members of Boko Haram even as the nationwide strike embarked on by Nigerians over the removal of fuel subsidy paralysed the state.

The SSS personnel was reportedly killed in Biu Local Government Area of the state, one of the five local governments where President Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency following the insecurity threats by Boko Haram.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Simeon Midenda confirmed the killing saying, “I have received a report that an SSS officer was shot dead in Biu council area after returning from the Mosque where he performed his 2pm Azzhar prayers.”

Meanwhile, the streets in Maiduguri were deserted as all government and private businesses were grounded although there were no anti-subsidy removal protests.

The absence of protest was attributed to the already tense situation created by the activities of Boko Haram.

State Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Chairman, Mr. Ali Abana, expressed satisfaction with the situation in the state as most people in the state fully complied with labour directives by remaining in their homes instead of doing anything that would further jeopardise the relative peace in the state.

OBJ, Atiku in Yola for Nyako

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar led the PDP supporters during the party’s grand finale campaign in Yola, where Nyako was presented to the people for their support in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

The rally witnessed a large crowd despite the strike.

Obasanjo, in his message, condemned the killings by Boko Haram in the state, saying, “Adamawa is one of the states in the country that encourage inter-religious friendship among residents irrespective of where they come from.”

On his part, Abubakar said the election was as good as won because “PDP is a multi-party and will win the election because all other political parties will vote for PDP, the party they all belonged to before now.”

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Over 50 injured as angry youths attack Muslims in Sapele

ENRAGED youths, numbering over 2,000, armed with battleaxes, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons went on rampage, Friday, sacking and inflicting injuries on over 50 Muslims at the Hausa quarters, Sapele in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State.

A northern security guard was shot dead in a separate incident by a gang of armed robbers that attacked a school in Sapele on Thursday.

NEWSMEN gathered that the youths were incensed by the uninhibited attacks on churches and killing of Christians in the northern part of the country by the Islamic Boko Haram sect.

Two of the persons suspected to have carried out the onslaught were, however, arrested by the police in Sapele.

There was pandemonium following the attack on Muslims, who were ordered to vacate the town in their own interest since Boko Haram members had also issued ultimatum to Christians to leave the north.

Secretary of a Muslim Media group in Sapele, Sadiq Oniyesaneyene Musa who spoke to NEWSMEN on the attacks by Sapele youths said, “We are disturbed by this attack on Muslims in Sapele and the order that all Muslims in Sapele should return to the north. I am a Muslim and an Itsekiri from Delta state, where do they want me to go to, this is my homeland”.

Musa said the youths besieged Muslims in the town very close to the mosque that was bombed, last year, and injured a lot of faithful.

“We called the director of the State Security Service, SSS, Asaba and the Area Commander and they responded. The Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger-Delta also deployed soldiers to take care of the situation”, he said.

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Gunmen open fire on Christian mourners, killing 17

Gunmen fired on Christian mourners on Friday, killing 17 in the latest attack to hit the region amid mounting fears of sectarian clashes, residents and a relief source said.

“There was an attack last night at Good Will Hotel in which five people were killed, all of them Igbos,” resident Zubairu Abdulaziz said of the incident in the northeastern town of Mubi, speaking of the Christian Igbo ethnic group.

“Today, some friends and relations of one of those killed in the attack gathered in his house to mourn his death. Unfortunately some yet to be identified gunmen arrived at the house and shot dead 17 mourners.”

Other residents gave a similar account. A rescue official speaking on condition of anonymity said local residents told him three people were killed on Thursday night and either 16 or 17 on Friday.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. A police spokeswoman declined to comment, saying she did not yet have information.

It was the latest attack in recent weeks targeting Christians in Nigeria. Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for previous such strikes.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on December 31 in parts of four states hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram, but there has been no halt to the violence.

Mubi, located in Adamawa state near the Cameroon border, is not part of the areas under the state of emergency decree.

Late Thursday, gunmen opened fire on worshippers at a church on the outskirts of the city of Gombe, killing six people, including the pastor’s wife. Three bomb blasts hit the cities of Maiduguri and Damaturu on Wednesday night.

The attacks came amid intensifying concerns over the potential for renewed sectarian clashes in Nigeria, whose 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

While Boko Haram has been blamed for increasingly deadly attacks for months, including an August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed 25, the violence has taken on a different dimension with recent church attacks.

A wave of Christmas bombings that killed 49 people, most of them outside of a Catholic church as services were ending, led to intense fear and outrage in Africa’s largest oil producer.

There have been fears of reprisals from Christians, and Christian leaders have warned they will defend themselves if attacks against them continue.

Boko Haram is a shadowy group believed to have a number of factions with differing aims, including those with political links and a hard-core Islamist faction.

It launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 people dead.

Since the group re-emerged in 2010, it has been blamed for increasingly sophisticated and deadly attacks, including suicide bombings, and its structure and aims have become far less clear.

Speculation has ranged from whether the group is seeking to foment religious conflict to if elements of it have been co-opted for political aims.

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Deeper Life Church attacked by Boko Haram: 5 dead,many wounded

GOMBE, Nigeria– Gunmen attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a prayer service Thursday night, killing at least five people and wounding others in an assault that occurred amid an increasingly violent campaign by a radical Muslim sect.

Pastor Johnson Jauro said the gunfire sprayed the Deeper Life Church in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, injuring several worshippers and killing his wife and two others. He spoke at a local hospital, where a joint team of soldiers and police officers stood guard. Two other people later died at the hospital from their wounds.

Local police spokesman Ahmed Muhammad confirmed the attack, but declined to say how many people the gunmen killed and wounded.

The assault occurred as Nigeria remains under attack by the sect known as Boko Haram. The oil-rich nation's president recently put regions of the country under a state of emergency due to the threat, but that did not include Gombe, which sits about 350 miles (570 kilometers) from Nigeria's central capital, Abuja.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for more than 500 killings this year alone. The group claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 39 people in a Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja, as well as a suicide car bombing targeting the U.N. headquarters in the capital that killed 25 people and wounded more than 100.

Nigeria's weak central government has been slow to respond to the sect.

On Dec. 31, President Goodluck Jonathan declared regions of Borno, Niger, Plateau and Yobe states to be under a state of emergency — meaning authorities can make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered international borders near Borno and Yobe state to be closed.

However, it remains unclear what effect that will have on a sect that has adopted hit-and-run attacks and suicide bombings to target the country's military and police, as well as civilians.

Meanwhile, a military spokesman said Thursday that soldiers killed two armed men suspected to be Boko Haram members after "resisting arrest" in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed said the army believes the gunmen were responsible for an attack Wednesday evening that left two people dead.

Human rights activists say security forces have carried out so-called "extra-judicial killings" out of frustration and anger at being unable to stop Boko Haram.

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