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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07100018.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Death toll from violence in Nigeria higher than estimated
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
KANO, NIGERIA (ANS) — Indications that the death toll following the weekend’s violence in the Tundun Wada area of Kano State, northern Nigeria, may be higher than initially estimated are beginning to emerge as more information about the causes of the violence are brought to light.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) says official figures suggest around nine Christians were killed, several churches were burnt and businesses and homes belonging to non- Muslims were destroyed during religious violence. Even Christian policemen are reported to have lost their homes and property.
As tensions slowly decrease in the area, the circumstances which triggered the violence are gradually being revealed, CSW said.
“The violence appears to have begun on the morning of 28 September 2007, when a group of Muslim students invaded a room shared by two Christian students at the Government Secondary School in Tudun Wada Na Kande, and began to assault them severely,” says a CSW report.
“When the Christian students asked what they had done wrong, their assailants initially told them to ‘mind their own business.’ However, once the school Principal arrived at the scene, the Christians were accused of drawing a picture of Mohammed on a mosque wall and of planning an assault on Muslim students.”
Reports also indicate that following the violence, Tundun Wada’s chief of police ordered the area to be sealed off.
CSW went on to report: “Local authorities transported Christians out of the area and removed all corpses in a possible attempt to obscure the true death toll. Even those seeking to assist victims of the violence were denied access to the area. Three pastors from the Mountain of Fire Pentecostal Church based in the State Capital, Kano City were detained when they attempted to evacuate members of their denomination. They were accompanied by three uniformed Christian members of the Nigerian Air Force who were also imprisoned. The three pastors have since been released on bail, while the air force men remain in custody.”
As a result of this enforced isolation of the area, the exact number of fatalities is difficult to determine. However, sources suspect that the toll is far higher than originally stated. One policeman was overheard complaining of being “fed up of packing corpses.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: “The news that the area was initially cut off from any outside assistance is deeply troubling. Until all the facts surrounding these attacks and resulting fatalities is uncovered, many victims may not be able to find out what has happened to their family and friends.
“These people have lost so much already in the violence that has destroyed their homes and livelihoods. We encourage the authorities to do everything within their power to bring peace and justice to this situation, an essential part of which is to reveal the truth and allow victims to mourn.”
CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045, email pennyhollings@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. His weblog appears at: Michael’s Wor(l)d BLOG
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
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Nigerian Catholic faces stoning death back home (Islamic court orders flogging before execution)
ADN Kronos ^ | September 3, 2007
Posted on 09/05/2007 5:19:17 AM PDT by NYer
Turin, 3 Sept.(AKI) - A young Nigerian Roman Catholic who faces death by stoning in his homeland for having had pre-marital sex with his girlfriend, has appealed to Italy not to deport him. “I am safe here. I know by the grace of God I will find life here, Felix Eugene told Adnkronos International (AKI).
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is due to begin considering on Monday whether Eugene, 27, can remain in Italy, where he has been living since 2004.
“I know that as a young man, I can do any kind of work,” said Eugene. He been working as a casual labourer unloading goods at a supermarket in the northern Italian city of Turin, and working as a hairdresser in his free time.
Magistrates in Nigeria sentenced Eugene to death by stoning preceeded by public flogging. A Sharia court gave him 20 lashes for 21 days for having tried to convert his Muslim girlfriend Fatima to Christianity. “ I wanted to marry her, so she could be the mother of my children,” he told AKI.
He said he has not been able to contact Fatima or his family since his escape from jail in Niger State and his flight from Nigeria. “I would like to get in touch with my family and Fatima, but I know it will not be easy to find her,” said Eugene.
Nigeria’s constitution upholds the secularism of the state and its legal system. But in Niger state and 11 other states, mainly in the Muslim majority north, Islamic (Sharia) law is applied.
Life is harsh for Muslim women in Niger State, where women cannot wear trousers, or speak in public to a Christian, Eugene told AKI. “When Fatima’s family found out she was pregnant by me, they disowned her,” Eugene said.
He does not know what has become of Fatima or their child.
Eugene’s family property was torched by his girfriend’s relatives when they found out Fatimah was pregnant, and Eugene and his father were thrown into jail.
Eugene was flogged for four days before managing to escape after his father paid a hefty bribe to his mullah-jailer to leave the door of his cell unlocked.
The mullah had his throat slit in a public square after it was discovered that Eugene had fled. He got a lift on a large truck headed for the Nigerian capital, Lagos where his uncle lives.
“My uncle decided I must leave Nigeria,” said Eugene.
From Lagos, Eugene managed to reach the northern Italian port of Genova aboard a container ship owned by a company that a friend of his uncle’s in Lagos worked for.
“I didn’t know where to go, but an Italian woman in Genova helped me. She bought me a train ticket to Turin, gave me 10 euros and told me I might find work there,” he said.
“Italians have been doing good for me by helping me,” he stressed.
Via diplomatic channels, documents and photographs, Eugene’s main lawyer, Anna Rosa Oddone, has verified his story. She told AKI she is optimistic that Eugene will be allowed to stay in Italy.
The UNHCR in Italy, which includes representatives from the United Nations, the Italian government and the police, will rule on whether Eugene can obtain refugee status, political asylum, or humanitarian leave, meaning he could stay in the country initially for up to 12 months.
If his recourse to UNHCR fails, Eugene can apply to the Italian courts but will have to do so in absentia, as he will be deported immediately.
Italy has played a part in succesful international campaigns to save two Nigerian women sentenced to lapidation under Islamic law. Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for having a baby as a result of consensual sexual relations while divorced, had her sentence overturned and was freed in 2003.
Safiya Husseini was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in 2001 but was later acquitted on appeal and in 2002 was made an ‘honorary’ citizen of Rome.