Uganda: Evangelist almost completely blind after acid attack by Islamic extremists

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Islamic extremists enraged at the preaching of the Gospel sprayed acid in the face of evangelist Pastor Frank Mutabaazi in Kampala, Uganda last month, causing severe burns and almost completely blinding him, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. While Christianity is legal in Uganda, Christians have come under increasing violent attacks from extremists in the minority Muslim population.

On December 22, Pastor Mutabaazi had just preached an evening service at a church in Kamapala’s Kasabican district when he was approached by a Muslim extremist feigning interest in his sermon, MSN reports. The Muslim praised the pastor’s address and then asked him for a ride to the Busega area in western Kampala. The pastor was headed home to Mbara, some five hours away, and agreed to give the Muslim a lift.

“On my way to the main road, the gentleman started making several phone calls,” Pastor Mutabaazi told Morning Star News in a statement that was labored due to burns to his mouth. The Muslim man then said he wanted to get out ahead of his previously stated destination. “As he came out of the vehicle, three men dressed in Islamic attire appeared and pulled out a bottle and started spraying on me through the window while shouting and mentioning that I am an enemy of their religion as well as a deceiver who is not worthy to live,” Pastor Mutabaazi continued. “From that time on, I did not know what happened, only to find myself at a nearby clinic in Namunghona after five hours.”

According to MSN, Pastor Mutabaazi “can see only dimly out of one eye and has trouble eating and talking due to the burns from the acid attack on Dec. 22 in Kampala. His shoulder was also seriously burned, and he cannot sleep without painkillers.”

Prior to the acid attack, Pastor Mutabaazi had received death threats for preaching the Gospel across Uganda, including in Kampala, Masaka, Mbale and Pallisa, and the West Nile sub-region.

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