Source: http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com/
Date: February 22, 2023
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 681
FEBRUARY 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal
DURING FEBRUARY WE PRAYED CONCERNING
NIGERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
This Saturday, 25 February, Nigeria’s presidential election will be held amidst soaring ethno-religious tensions, gross insecurity and the threat of widespread election-related violence. Nigeria has a population of 220 million, around half of whom identify as Christian. Those most at risk are minority Christians in the Muslim North and all ethnic Igbo living outside the South East. [The Igbo are Nigeria’s most Christian (98 percent), most industrious and most widely dispersed tribe.] The Nigerian Church is one of the world’s leading missionary-sending Churches.
‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armour of God [described in vs13-17] … [and] keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication [earnest prayer] for all the saints.’ (From Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV)
RLPB 678. Nigerian Elections (1): The Candidates, 1 Feb 2023
RLPB 679. Nigerian Elections (2): Insecurity and the Igbo, 8 Feb 2023
RLPB 680. Nigerian Elections (3): Buhari’s Legacy, 15 Feb 2023
UPDATE: A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted over 10-12 February showed Labour’s Peter Obi – an ethnic Igbo Christian from the long-marginalised South East – well out in front. Excerpts from the R&WS poll results: ‘Peter Obi (Labour Party) 62 percent; Bola Tinubu (All Progressives Congress) 22 percent; Atiku Abubakar (Peoples Democratic Party) 12 percent; Rubi’u Musa Kwankwaso (New Nigeria People’s Party) 3 percent; another candidate, 1 percent. … While enthusiasm for Obi is said to be driven by younger voters, majorities of voters across all age groups say they intend to vote for Obi. … Peter Obi is the only major candidate in the upcoming election who is viewed favourably by a majority of Nigerian voters…’
However, Peter Obi’s campaign has not been without its challenges. In recent weeks several of the Labour Party’s Northern Muslim gubernatorial and state assembly candidates have abandoned Obi and Labour and defected to the APC and PDP, both of which are running Muslim candidates. The defecting candidates accuse Obi of running a ‘non-inclusive’ campaign and pandering to the Igbo, something his campaign and his supporters deny. Ndi Kato, a spokesperson for Obi’s campaign, told The Africa Report (15 Feb) that she does not believe the high-level political defections will have any impact on the polls. ‘Our foot soldiers are the people of Nigeria. They are volunteering … this election is between the people and the political class.’
Kato’s analysis hits the target! This is an election between the people (i.e. those who have been impoverished) and Nigeria’s political and military elites (i.e. those who profit from systemic corruption). However, it will also be fought between those advancing ethnic (e.g. Fulani) and/or Islamic hegemony, and those demanding religious freedom and tolerance, education and jobs, health, peace and prosperity in a ‘New Nigeria’. The battle is about to begin!
Nigeria is entering a very challenging and indeed pivotal period of its history. Please, keep alert and pray.
ROUNDUP: ALSO IN FEBRUARY
* AZERBAIJAN: ARMENIANS FACE ETHNIC CLEANSING
Armenians under siege. Photos by Ani Balayan, Armenian Weekly 15 Feb 2023
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) – an ethnic-Armenian Christian enclave in Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan – has been in a state of siege since 12 December when Azerbaijani agents blockaded the Lachin Corridor (the road that links Artsakh to Armenia). On 15 February the Armenian Weekly warned: ‘It is beyond any doubt that the actions’ of these Azerbaijani agents ‘serve as a consistent tool for Azerbaijan’s hybrid warfare tactics and systematic policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh. … Cut off from the outside world, the 120,000-strong population of Artsakh is inching closer to an inevitable humanitarian catastrophe every single day. There are extreme shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities. There is a lack of proper heating in harsh winter conditions.’ Rich in ancient Armenian Christian architecture (which Azerbaijan doesn’t want), Artsakh is also rich in minerals, in particular gold and copper. Complicating matters, Baku – Azerbaijan’s capital, located on the shore of the Caspian Sea – is rich in oil and gas. That gas – which is desperately needed in Europe – is now flowing through the Southern Gas Corridor. Consequently, we should not expect any Western government will challenge Baku – at least not with anything more than a few meaningless words! The situation is dire. Please pray.
‘It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes’ (Psalm 118:9 ESV).
Prayer for Artsakh – Psalm 118:5-17
Recommended: ‘Do you know what is happening in Armenia?’ by Craig Simonian, World Evangelical Alliance’s Peace & Reconciliation Network (PRN), 13 Feb 2023.
MEANWHILE: ARMENIANS IN BEVERLEY HILLS
“…it was a different kind of pain to see it in person, to touch those flyers, to truly feel hated.” (Photo: Weekly columnist Melody Seraydarian)
Flyers posted around Beverly Hills, 28 Jan 2023.
On Saturday 28 January police in Beverly Hills, California, USA, declared that flyers inciting a new Armenian genocide ‘fall within the protection of the First Amendment of the US Constitution’ (i.e. they are protected as free speech). The flyers, which read – ‘Azerbaijan + Turkey + Pakistan + Israel = 4 BROTHERS WILL WIPE Armenia OFF the MAP, Inshallah !!!!’ – had been posted throughout the city on 28 January, ahead of the Armenian Youth Federation Western United States’ March for Artsakh. [NOTE: Israel is a key ally and weapons supplier to Azerbaijan.] As Melody Seraydarian notes, ‘At a time when our homeland [Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian Christian enclave in Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan] is undergoing a humanitarian crisis, this kind of rhetoric – especially at a protest intended to call national attention to the Artsakh blockade – is alarming.’ It might have taken a whole week, but on 7 February, Beverly Hills Police Department did remove their statement from social media. However, an anxious Armenian community is still waiting for an explanation. Please pray.
* DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): TERROR IN NORTH-EAST
Islamic State Democratic Republic of Congo (ISDRC: the DRC chapter of Islamic State Central Africa Province) continues to consolidate and expand in the DRC’s north-east. This is the same group that on 15 January bombed a church baptism service in North Kivu Province, killing 14 worshippers and wounding around 70 [RLPB 677 (25 Jan 2023)]. Since then ISDRC [formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)] has continued to wreak terror in DRC’s north-east. On Sunday night 22 January, ISDRC terrorists killed 23 civilians in Beni, North Kivu. Before dawn on Sunday 28 January, the group launched simultaneous attacks on three villages in neighbouring Ituri Province (north of North Kivu) leaving more than 20 dead. On Sunday 12 February and Monday 13 February, ISDRC terrorists killed at least 22 civilians and burned homes and medical facilities in two districts of Ituri Province. On Wednesday 15 February they killed five more civilians in Ituri. ISDRC is only one of several militias wreaking havoc in DRC’s north-east where some 6.8 million Congolese have been displaced [UNHCR, Feb 2023] and services – most of which are provided, not by the state but by the Church – have been disrupted. It is a full-blown Christian crisis. Please pray for DRC, for DRC President Felix Tshisekedi (described as a devout Christian), and for DRC’s suffering and imperilled Church.
* GHANA: BAWKU CONFLICT; OPPORTUNITY FOR JIHADISTS
Map showing location of Bawku.
(click on map to enlarge)
A high-risk situation has emerged in Ghana’s far north-east as conflict returns to Bawku. The conflict – between the non-Muslim, mostly-Christian indigenous ethnic Kusasi and the Muslim ethnic Mamprusi who migrated from Togo and established the town in the 18th Century – has ethnic, political and religious dimensions. Power struggles between the Mamprusi (who dominate the urban centre) and the Kusasi (who live on the periphery) are nothing new. However, while the groups used to fight with sticks, now they fight with automatic weapons, making this power struggle far more deadly. What’s more, the consolidation and expansion of jihadist terror groups in the Sahel makes any destabilisation far more dangerous.
After 13 years of peace, conflict erupted in Bawku in November 2021 after a rumour spread that the Mamprusi were ‘planning to install their own regent as chief, in a direct challenge to the current Kusasi ruler’. On 6 February Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were used in an attempt to blow up a bridge, causing alarm in the security forces as it was the first time an IED had been deployed in Ghana. On 15 February the Mamprusi did install a parallel king/chief in Bawku, an act the government in Accra condemned as ‘illegal and a threat to national security’. Fierce gun battles ensued, and the town is now totally polarised along ethnic and religious lines. The government has announced it will send an additional 5000 troops to Bawku to stem the escalating violence. According to Ghana’s defence minister, Dominic Nitiwul, ‘Unknown elements are sowing seeds of radicalisation in the area …’ Critically, security analysts report that ‘foreigners have infiltrated Bawku and they are being aided by the locals to kill’. These foreigners ‘are the agents of the locals’ who invite them in and give them sanctuary [The Africa Report, 15 Feb]. There is a huge risk that jihadist terror groups based in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel might exploit the situation to get a foothold in northern Ghana. Please pray.
* INDIA: ARSON IN NARMADAPURAM, MADHYA PRADESH
On Sunday 12 February members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Narmadapuram district, in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, arrived for morning prayers only to find that Hindu nationalists had broken into their church and torched the interior. The furniture, carpets, appliances, musical instruments, Bibles and prayer books had been dowsed in flammable liquid and burned. The six-year-old church – which has a seating capacity of 1000 – had only recently been repainted. On 14 February, police arrested three suspected arsonists. While Pastor Mahesh Kumre thanked and praised the police for their prompt action, another Christian leader, Dennis Jonathan lamented that the arsonists will only be charged with ‘hurting religious sentiments’ which, unlike arson, only attracts a minor penalty. The police suspect the accused – who had a list of Christian and Muslim places of worship to target and claimed that they were only defending their religion – are also responsible for two other church arson attacks in Narmadapuram district in January. Christians make up a mere 0.29 percent of Madhya Pradesh’s 72 million population. Please pray for India, for the vulnerable Church in Madhya Pradesh, and that the accused arsonists (three young men in their early 20s) might ‘repent and believe the good news’ (Mark 1:15 NIV).
* NICARAGUA: FORCED EXILE AND IMPRISONMENT
- Church endures most severe crackdown in decades.
Bishop Álvarez of Matagalpa, prays at a Catholic church in Managua, 20 May 2022. (OSV News photo/Maynor Valenzuela, Reuters)
On 10 February Bishop Rolando José Álvarez (56) – who was arrested on 19 August 2022 [see RLPB 660 (31 Aug 2022)] – was stripped of his citizenship and sentenced to 26 years in prison after the court deemed him guilty of undermining the government, spreading false information, obstruction of functions and disobedience. A leading Catholic, Bishop Álvarez has been an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega. It is the longest sentence given to a political prisoner in years.
One day earlier, on 9 February, the Nicaraguan government forcibly exiled 222 political prisoners, stripping them of their citizenship and putting them on a flight to the USA without informing their families. The CSW press release of 10 February lists the church leaders forcibly exiled: they include numerous Catholics and one Protestant pastor. Bishop Álvarez was supposed to be among them. However, as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom noted in its condemnation of the bishop’s 26-year sentence: ‘Authorities reportedly gave Bishop Álvarez the opportunity to join the exiled prisoners, but he chose to stay in his native country to be with the Catholic community under repression by the Ortega regime.’ Lord have mercy! Please pray.
‘Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body’ (Hebrews 13:3 ESV).
* PAKISTAN: RELENTLESS PERSECUTION
Sunita Masih after acid attack. (Morning Star News, courtesy of family)
KARACHI: On 1 February a Christian girl named Sunita Masih (19) left home to go to work. While at the bus station, a Muslim neighbour, Kamran Allah Bux threw acid over her, burning her face, eyes, arms and legs. Sunita, who belongs to the local Salvation Army church, will be permanently scarred, physically and emotionally. Bux (who is married) had long been harassing Sunita, pressuring her to convert to Islam and marry him – advances she repeatedly rejected. Bux has been arrested and police have registered a case against him.
PUNJAB: On 4 February police in Faisalabad finally registered a case against Rana Tayyab, a 60-year-old Muslim man who had, on 15 December, kidnapped a 15-year-old Christian girl named Sitara Arif (also known as Saira). Saira’s father, Arif Gill had spent nearly two months trying in vain to get the police to register a case. On 3 February, when attorney Akmal Bhatti – Gill’s lawyer and chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan – learned of Gill’s plight, he intervened and demanded immediate action from the police. By now Saira will have been forcibly converted to Islam and forcibly married to Tayyab who is rumoured to have taken Saira to Islamabad. Lord have mercy!
On 6 February a Muslim landowner accused Christian labourer Emmanuel Masih (48) of stealing oranges from his orchard. He, along with five Muslim labourers, then beat Masih to death as he pleaded his innocence. Masih leaves behind a wife and six children; no-one expects to see justice. Lord have mercy! Please pray for the Church in Pakistan.
* SUDAN: ASSASSINATION AND PERSECUTION
On 23 January Ibrahim Kander (or Gebeira) – a pastor with the Sudan Church of Christ – was assassinated in a drive-by shooting by suspected members of Sudan’s State Intelligence. Pastor Ibrahim – a US citizen from Grand Island (a city in Nebraska, USA) – was with his wife, Nafisa Awad Toto, and son, Luis Ibrahim Kander (3) visiting family in the Nuba Mountains when he was shot and killed. While Pastor Ibrahim’s wife and son survived the attack, three of his nephews who were also present did not. Please pray.
On 9 February, Ahmad Adam Mohamad (49) of North Darfur in western Sudan, fled into hiding after his extended Muslim family – who had accused him of apostasy – sent Muslim militants to kill him. Mohamad, who has been a follower of Jesus for 10 years now, told Morning Star News: ‘The situation is extremely difficult – I am not safe at all. I urge all the brothers to pray and help me get out from this area to a safer place.’ On Friday 17 February authorities in Sudan’s south-eastern Blue Nile State arrested Yousif Ayoub Hussein Ali for preaching to Muslims at an open-air worship event. Preacher Ali had not violated any Sudanese law and no-one is suggesting that the Muslims were not there of their own free will. Please pray for these our brothers: Ahmad Adam Mohamad and Yousif Ayoub Hussein Ali.