Source: www.persecution.org
Date: August 20, 2022
Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – Luka Binniyat, a Nigerian Christian human rights reporter, has been arrested for writing an article criticizing the Nigerian government for not stepping up to protect Christian communities.
Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, which includes northern Kaduna state, are regularly targeted and killed by radicalized ethnic Fulani militants. Since most Christians in Nigeria are farmers, and the Fulani are nomadic herders, it is common for the situation to be characterized as a farmer-herder conflict rather than the genocide that it is.
In his article, Binniyat reported that Kaduna State’s Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, mischaracterized the massacre of Christians as a clash between farmers and herdsmen. His trial before a Nigerian magistrate is on Sept. 6, and he is facing charges of cyberstalking and aiding and abetting the offenses of cybercrimes. He has denied all charges.
His article was entitled “In Nigeria, Police Decry Massacres as ‘Wicked’ but Make No Arrest,” and it was published on October 29, 2021 in the Epoch Times. In addition to calling out Samuel Aruwan, the article discussed the massacre of 38 Christians on Sept. 28, 2021 by armed Fulani militants.
Luka Binniyat’s arrest and trial are an attempt to silence journalists who speak out about attacks on Christians in Nigeria, says Robert Destro, a law professor at Catholic University and a former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor during the Trump administration.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt who are suffering in silence. Pray for the government to recognize the genocide against Christians. Please pray for Luka Binniyat and his family as his trial approaches. Pray for the freedom of the press and for Luka’s trial.