Nigeria: Christian Woman Accused of Blasphemy Has Been Jailed for Months Without Trial

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Christian woman in Nigeria’s Bauchi state has been on remand in custody for five months since her trial on charges of alleged blasphemy and incitement continues to suffer unreasonable delays, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Rhoda Ya’u Jatau a Christian mother of five children, was first arrested in May 2022 after she shared with fellow Primary healthcare staff a two-minute video featuring a Ghanaian Christian condemning the murder of Christian student Deborah Emmanuel, in Sokoto on May 12 last year, ICC reports. Charges were brought against Rhoda after Islamic co-workers expressed their outrage at the video and accused her of blasphemy and incitement against Islam.

Once the case was brought to trial, the prosecution proceeded and was able to close its case, but the defense has been prevented from responding, ICC said. The court has continually postponed the matter ostensibly out of fear that local Islamic extremists will riot. Moreover, the court has refused to grant Rhoda bail, citing the same fear.

“The postponement appears to be a tactical delay to keep Jatau in continued remand. A religious agenda of Christian persecution is being played out,” Solomon Dalyop Mwantiri, a human rights activist, told Christian Solidarity International.”

In a separate statement to ICC, Rev. Ishaku Dano, overseer of the ECWA church in Katanga, said: “The more you try to speak, the more you fall victim to situations like that of Rhoda, because [the Islamists] know they are the ones in control of the government and law enforcement.”

Nigeria ranks 6th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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