Nigeria Evangelist In Hiding After Surviving Beatings And Police Detention
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABUJA (Worthy News) – A Nigerian evangelist who left Islam and accepted faith in Christ was recovering from his injuries in a “safe house” Saturday after he was freed on bail following beatings and nine days in prison for trumped-up charges, his supporters say.
Musa Bello, who brings the Gospel to Fulani tribes deep in the forests of northern Nigeria, was “brutally beaten and tortured” by a mob that killed the evangelist’s assistant, said his wife, Maryam Musa.
The evangelist was attacked on February 7 when he went looking for his missing assistant, a Muslim man named Umar, who was murdered earlier in the day, Musa added.
Police initially arrived “in time to save his life” but soon took him into custody on the outskirts of Abuja, the capital, for alleged involvement in an armed robbery, charges he vehemently denies, several sources said.
“The police officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad beat my husband severely over this past week, injuring his back and leaving bruises all over his body,” his wife recalled in published remarks. “But thanks be to God, tonight he will be able to sleep in his bed as a free man for the first time in over a week.”
Police did not immediately comment, and it wasn’t clear when a trial would begin.
Christians say the real reason for the beatings and his arrest is the Christian conversion of the former Muslim and his evangelism activities.
PUBLIC OUTRAGE
Nigerian media reported public outrage after news emerged of his mistreatment and detention, as Nigeria is a secular nation.
Yet many of the estimated 10 million Fulani citizens in Nigeria, who are mainly Muslims, are reportedly hostile to the Christian faith.
Despite the tensions, Fulani Christian converts, including Musa Bello, have a reputation for “fearless evangelical campaigns,” said Stephen Kefason, a reporter for the TruthNigeria.com website who followed the case closely.
The attack followed widespread reported attacks and mass killings of Christians in several parts of Nigeria.
“Christians in Nigeria, particularly in the Muslim-majority north, continue to live under immense pressure,” said advocacy group Open Doors, which ranks the African nation 6th on its annual World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face “most persecution.”
While Evangelist Musa Bello survived the attacks, thousands of Nigerian Christians have been killed in recent years, Worthy News established. Nigerian Christians are often “terrorized with devastating impunity by Islamic militants and armed ‘bandits,’” Open Doors explained. “
More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria each year than everywhere else in the world combined,” the group added, though it wasn’t clear whether harshly-ruled North Korea could be accurately counted in the calculations.
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