Archbishop: 'Face to face with Satan' in Jos, Nigeria
Thousands have been killed in religious clashes in Nigeria. In a recent article in Christianity Today, Archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi, described the confrontations as coming 'face to face with Satan.'
Yesterday I interviewed Archbishop Kwashi by telephone for our report in today's Times. He said he began to hear about the massacres as he was conducting a confirmation service. A messenger from one of the three predominantly Christian villages attacked ran to the church where he was celebrating, to show him photographs of the massacres on their digital cameras.
As the day went on, he heard about the two others. He went to one of the villages to look for himself but decided to stay on the boundaries and not get too close as he could not cope with the stench and the terrible wounds he saw on babies and children in particular.
He believes the Muslim occupants of the villages were tipped off as they all left before the massacres, he reported. Also, he believes a significant organisation was behind the killings because they happened during curfew with the army in the area, as it has been since the January killings.
Nearly all the photographs received at The Times have dead children in them. They are too distressing for publication here.
The Archbishop said: 'It was not a good sight at all. The villagers had no chance whatsoever. They were slaughtered. I could see machete wounds in the necks of children. Kids from age zero to teenagers, all butchered from the back, macheted in their necks, their heads. Deep cuts in the mouths of babies. The stench. People wailing and crying. Some have lost their voices. I could not stand it. From what I saw from a distance, it was over 100 killed in one village. I don’t know what sparked it off. I thought we were making headway after the previous crisis in January.
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Nigerian Best Forum has more: 'Some witnesses said villagers were caught in fishing nets and animal traps as they tried to escape and were then hacked to death. Mud huts were also set on fire.'
Jonathan Rivlin of The Henry Jackson Society says: 'It is unacceptable that the United Nations, African Union or any other international or religious group has yet to comment or call for any action on the ongoing religiously fuelled massacre.
'Where is the Vatican? 500 Christians have just been murdered and yet again no comment.
'Seeing that it’s fundamentally Muslims versus Christians, it’s time for religious leaders to stand up and condemn this sort of violence.
Read more: Times Online
January’s riots led to about 500 mostly Muslim people being killed after fighting broke out in Jos between Christians and Muslims.
Christian-Muslim violence in Nigeria warrants probe, rights group says
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Reports of at least 150 Muslims killed in recent religious clashes in Nigeria should be investigated, a human rights group urged Saturday.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that armed men attacked Kuru Karama in central Nigeria on Tuesday, "killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive," the international organization said Saturday.
Those interviewed by the group said they thought the attackers were Christian, Human Rights Watch said. But even Christians were not spared. When a Christian pastor tried to stop the attacks he was beaten, a Muslim imam told the group.
Read more: CNN
Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by happygolucky
Fine, in the interest of fairness, here's the report of the earlier violence:
Christian-Muslim violence in Nigeria warrants probe, rights group says
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Reports of at least 150 Muslims killed in recent religious clashes in Nigeria should be investigated, a human rights group urged Saturday.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that armed men attacked Kuru Karama in central Nigeria on Tuesday, "killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive," the international organization said Saturday.
Those interviewed by the group said they thought the attackers were Christian, Human Rights Watch said. But even Christians were not spared. When a Christian pastor tried to stop the attacks he was beaten, a Muslim imam told the group.
Read more: CNN
Yeah, 500 Christians for 150 Muslims, that sounds fair.
An eye-for-an-eye, huh..? Or in this case, a limb-for-a-limb....
Illiterate people are told what the writings mean by someone who can read it. Care to deny that thinking?
How does this type of thing continue? How is there anybody left alive in that village? I would have run headlong to my own death in defense of these strangers. How is this archbishop still alive?
english.aljazeera.net...
Our correspondent quoted police as saying that the attackers were Muslim Hausa-Fulani herders while the victims were mainly Christians from the Borom community.
But she added that while many people would view the violence in a religious context, people she had spoken to said the violence was about indigenous groups, who are mainly Christian, and migrants and settlers, mainly from the Hausa-speaking Muslim north, competing for access to resources.
...
The violence appeared to be reprisal attacks following the January unrest in Jos when most of the victims were Muslims, Robin Waubo, a Red Cross spokesman, said.
Originally posted by hangedman13
reply to post by davesidious
Or you are just attacking a thread due to a personal bias against Christians. Islam still holds to the old "the guy who can read this make the rules" mentality. Just like Christianity did and still does in poorer areas. All religions get hijacked by those who would twist it to further their own agendas. Illiterate people are told what the writings mean by someone who can read it. Care to deny that thinking?
Where is the Vatican? 500 Christians have just been murdered and yet again no comment.
