3rd Nigerian Church Leader Kidnapped in 2 Weeks
(Worthy News) – Two Nigerian Christian church leaders were kidnapped on March 25th following the discovery of the body of a Catholic priest who had been the victim of kidnapping two weeks ago.
Reverend Emmanuel Haruna of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) was taken at gunpoint from his church in Nasarawa State after he went outside to search for phone service.
“Please pray for his safety and release,” an ECWA spokesman asked supporters.
In 2016 Haruna spoke out against the frequent kidnappings and raids perpetrated against rural Christian communities by Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
“Fulani herdsmen take their cattle to farms of our church members and destroy their crops, and security agents have not been able to take measures to stop them,” he lamented in a Morning Star News article.
It is estimated by the United Nations Centre for Peace and Disarmament that of the 500 million illegal weapons that flooded into West Africa after the Libyan crisis in 2011, 350 million (70%) ended up in Nigeria, supplying the predominantly Muslim herders with added teeth in their campaign against Christian farmers.
Open Doors gives Nigeria the highest rating for violence in its score system for Christian persecution.