Irate youths destroy Catholic Church property, attack worshippers

A group of Muslim youths on Friday attacked St. Philip’s Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, close to Zuma Rock in Niger State.

According to eyewitnesses, some Catholics had gone to the church to pray when they were attacked by the Muslims who claimed that Friday was their day of prayer and that the church only had right to worship on Sundays.

The youths were said to have destroyed the church’s property, including doors and the windows.

Some soldiers managed to get there later, but not before harm had been done to the building. Worshippers ran away in different directions to avoid being killed. Rev. Fr. Luka Sylvester Gopep, the Vicar-General of the Diocese, confirmed the incident.

Gopep said: “Sometime around 2pm, some Muslim youths in their hundreds left their mosque after their Friday Jumat prayer and rushed to the church premises, climbed the wall and destroyed everything in the church: the windows, the altar, musical instruments, the chapel. “The security man in the church premises was beaten to pulp.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/irate-youths-destroy-catholic-church-property-attack-worshippers/

Government, court handling of Kano killing, Kaduna attack will determine our action – Christian Youths

Youths under the aegis of Kaduna Christian Youths (KCY), have condemned the continuous attack on innocent Christians, sighting the killing of 74 year-old Mrs. Bridget Agbahime over alleged blasphemy and the recent attack on 41 year-old Mr. Francis Emmanuel Francis in Kakuri, in southern Kaduna local government area.

The youths who spoke to newsmen on Saturday, said they were observing the court proceeding over Mrs. Bridget’s killing as well as closely watching what the Kaduna state government would do in the case of Mr. Francis, a carpenter.

According to them, how government and the court handled the case would determine their next line of action.

Coordinator of the youths, Mr. Irmiya Joshua said, “suddenly, the Muslim youths are provoking us again. We thought we could live in peace but their actions since the coming of this administration is making us feel as if they have consciously planned this all the while so as to get protection by government.”

Asked on what they intend to do, Mr. Joshua simply replied, “Nobody has the monopoly of violence. In kaduna, we are known to be simple as well as violent when the need arises. We are watching the situation, we are coordinating and the end will determine our next line of action.”

It could be recalled that some Muslims youths attacked a middle aged man, Mr. Francis Emmanuel at about 2:30pm when they found him eating, while they were observing the Ramadan fasting.

Mr. Francis who was rushed to the St. Gerard Catholic Hospital, where he was treated following deep machete cuts on his head and other parts of his body, told journalists from his hospital bed that he was taking his lunch when the boys, numbering about six, descended on him on the grounds that he was not fasting.

See the Faces of 5 Suspects Involved in Killing a Woman Over Blasphemy in Kano (Photo)

Five persons were on Friday arraigned before a court in Kano over last week’s killing of a trader on allegation of blasphemy.

5 suspects arraigned in court on Friday in Kano over the killing of Bridget Agbahime for alleged blasphemy. Credit: Mohammed Kabir.

News went viral online and social media few days ago after some suspected muslims brutally murdered a christian woman, Bridget Agbahime, who they accused of blasphemy in the city of Kano.

Earlier today, five persons have been arraigned before a court in Kano over last week’s killing of the trader who is reported to be a member of the Deeper Life church.

According to the police in Kano who arraigned the suspects, their names are; Dauda Ahmad, Abdullahi Mustapha, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi as they appeared before Chief Magistrate Court on a four-count charge.

The suspects were charged with incitement, culpable homicide and mischief, based on sections 144,80, 51 and 327 of the penal code.

Dauda Ahmad, who is the prime suspect, was accused of leading others to attack and hack Mrs. Agbahime to death. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

At the court, the prosecutor, Dauda Jibrin, said on June 2, at about 4pm, Mr. Ahmad, the prime suspect, went and held the hands of Mrs. Agbahime and slapped her severally on the face before shouting Allahu Akbar with the intent to caused religious upheaval.

He said as Mr. Ahmad shouted Allahu Akbar, Abdullahi Mustapha, Zubairu Abubakar joined him, while others at large, including Salawiyu, Ibrahim, Dini, Isiyaku Mada, Mallam Sani and Yunusa Sufi, also accompanied them to Mrs. Agbahime’s shop located on the first floor, where they beat her with sticks causing serious injuries that led to her death.

Two of the suspects pleaded not guilty to the four charges, while Abdullahi Mustapha and Zubairu Abubakar said they were not even at the scene of the incident.

The Chief Magistrate Muhammad Jibrin adjourned the case to June 28 to allow police complete investigations.

Muslim group reject new date due to Ramadan

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC has reportedly rejected the new date for the National Youth Service Corps 2016/17 Batch A (Stream II) orientation course which was slated for June 13, due to the ongoing Ramadan season.

This was revealed in a statement issued by MURIC's director, Ishaq Akintola and made available to PremiumTimes.

The group said the date coincided with Muslim corps members’ Ramadan fasting.

“ It is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional for NYSC to hold camp at a time when its Muslim members will be deprived of their freedom of worship and the liberty to practice their creed without fear.

“This planned camp is exclusive, discriminatory and parochial ,” the statement said.

The new date was fixed after several postponements and cancellations. The NYSC, in a statement, said the orientation course had to be postponed due to financial reason.

A date was finally fixed after President Muhammadu Buhari  approved and released funds for the scheme.

The NYSC orientation programme would run from June 13 to June 29 nationwide.

MURIC noted that any Nigerian

institution dealing with schedules and programmes is expected to consider the dates and periods of important festivals, rituals and religious practices.

The Muslim group also mentioned that meals will also be a challenge as adequate sahuur (early morning meal taken approximately between 4 am and 5.15 am) cannot be guaranteed in the NYSC camp.

Neither can the futuur (meal taken at sunset to break fast ) be timely as camp schedules are bound to ignore and subsume this very important period.

Akintola, in his statement pointed out that fasting is compulsory for every Muslim adult, adding that any obstacle put in the way of Muslims to make it impossible for them to fast is an encroachment on their fundamental human right and a flagrant violation of Nigerian Constitution.