RLPB 562. Nigeria (2): Insecurity Enables Terrorist Expansion

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 562 | Wed 12 Aug 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

NIGERIA (2): INSECURITY ENABLES TERRORIST EXPANSION
Part 1: Christian Crisis in Kaduna [RLPB 561 (5 Aug)]
Part 3 will be the subject of next week's RLPB 563
By Elizabeth Kendal

BACKGROUND: TERRORISM IN NIGERIA

ORIGINS: Boko Haram (also known as the 'Nigerian Taliban') was founded in 2002, in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Borno, by a religious teacher named Mohammed Yusuf. The group took up militancy and by 31 July 2009, Yusuf was dead (in custody). On 9 August 2009 Boko Haram (BH) issued a statement lauding Yusuf as a martyr and declaring jihad with the aim of rendering Nigeria ungovernable and imposing Islam by force. In June 2010 BH - now led by Abubakar Shekau - formalised its ties with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), giving it access to training, funding and advanced weapons. In June 2011 BH bombed the UN headquarters in the capital, Abuja: a clear declaration of war!

Abubakar Shekau (Nov 2018)
"the longest-lasting jihadist leader globally"
(Jamestown Foundation, 28 July 2020)

FIRST SPLIT: Between 2011 and 2013, BH targeted government offices, markets, businesses, churches, mosques and schools across the north, mostly in Kaduna, Kano and Plateau, mostly using suicide bombers. Shekau is a takfiri: i.e. one who deems Muslims who disagree with him as apostates deserving death. The group suffered a split in 2012 when AQIM-trained jihadist Khalid al-Barnawi broke away in protest against Shekau's indiscriminate killing of Muslims. With AQIM's permission, K.al-Barnawi formed Jama'at Ansar al-Muslimin fi Bilad al-Sudan (Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa), popularly known as 'Ansaru'. Divided and lacking local support, BH and Ansaru abandoned the Northwest in 2014. BH returned to the Northeast and set up base in Borno, while al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru opted to maintain sleeper cells across the Northwest.

SECOND SPLIT: In March 2015 Shekau pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS). However, in August 2016, IS emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi demoted Shekau and appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi (son of BH founder Mohammed Yusuf) as leader of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in his place. Furious, Shekau denounced A.M.al-Barnawi as an 'infidel' and split from the group. Shekau's BH faction, also known as Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad) or JAS, is based in Borno State's Sambisa Forest (about 60 km south-east of Maiduguri), while its Bakura faction is located in the Chad Basin (in the Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad tri-border region). In February 2019 ultra-radical elements within ISWAP ousted A.M.al-Barwani in a bloodless coup, having rejected his al-Qaeda-inspired 'Long War' strategy which involves winning Muslim hearts and minds while targeting 'apostate' government, army and other bodies. His replacement, Umar al-Barnawi (also known as Ba Idrissa), follows the IS strategy of 'Caliphate Now! Whatever it takes! No mercy!'

These three jihadist factions - Al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru, IS affiliate ISWAP, and Shekau's BH/JAS - have the same goal: a Caliphate. Personality issues aside, they differ only on strategy. They all view Christians as the enemy and Christianity as a problem to be eliminated.

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Praying for peace: 2nd 'Black Sunday' service, Kaduna, 9 Aug 2020
(images courtesy Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
click on collage to enlarge

NIGERIA (2): INSECURITY ENABLES TERRORIST EXPANSION

Analysts are warning that gross insecurity is paving the way for Boko Haram/JAS (Shekau faction), Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Al-Qaeda affiliate 'Ansaru' to make a comeback in Nigeria's Northwest Region. In a report for Jamestown Foundation published 28 July, terrorism analyst Jacob Zenn sounds the alarm: 'Nigeria should approach Boko Haram, ISWAP and Ansaru in Northwestern Nigeria as the most serious security crisis since the insurgency began [in 2010].' He warns that, while Boko Haram and ISWAP are relatively contained in Borno amongst their ethnic Kanuri kin, if these groups get a foothold among the Fulani in the Northwest, then nothing 'will prevent their continued expansion until northern Nigeria becomes overwhelmed ...' If security is not improved, and if the government does not address the issues that make recruitment attractive - i.e. poverty and ideology (specifically Wahhabi ideology imported from Saudi Arabia) - then Nigeria could come to resemble Syria 2013-2017, with heavily-armed and internationally-backed al-Qaeda and IS-aligned terrorist organisations in control of the north.

On 15 June BH/JAS released a video in which Shekau sent greetings to the group's 'brothers' in the Northwest's Zamfara State. On 10 July Nigeria's Defence Headquarters (DHQ) warned that terrorists from the Northeast were moving to the Northwest with sophisticated weapons. On 7 August AQIM-affiliate, Ansaru, claimed to have attacked a Nigerian Army position in Kaduna State, allegedly resulting in 25 'apostates' being killed and 10 wounded. Analysts suspect that Ansaru is recruiting Fulani herdsmen and bandits into its ranks and that Ansaru jihadists, posing as herdsmen and bandits, are participating in the Fulani jihad.

See also:  VIDEO (8:29 mins), TVC News Nigeria, 6 Aug 2020
Al-Qaeda Expanding in Nigeria, United States Warns Nigeria

Cameroon's Centre for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) was established in Mora, in Cameroon's Extreme North region in 2019. The centre works to rehabilitate ex-militants who surrender to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) in return for amnesty. The program is not 'de-radicalising' Islamist prisoners, which rarely works. On the contrary, it is rehabilitating those who, having risked their lives to escape, have surrendered and are seeking rehabilitation. The facility was built to handle 100 ex-militants at a time; it is currently hosting more than 250. On 7 August Voice of America reported that 109 people had surrendered to the MJTF in the past two weeks. The 109 comprised 45 Nigerian and 3 Cameroonian ex-militants, 45 Nigerian children and 16 women who had been kept as sex-slaves. All of them - including the fighters who had joined voluntarily - report being held captive, threatened with execution should they try to escape, and fed the lie that MJTF soldiers will kill them. Centre director Oumar Bichair has appealed for more resources to accommodate the increasing numbers. They need facilities, workers, psychologists and people who can train ex-fighters in literacy and trade skills. The Church has done this before, for example in northern Uganda; the Church can do it again.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene in Nigeria to bless, protect and empower those who would 'turn back the battle at the gate' (from Isaiah 28:5-6).

* frustrate every wicked plot devised by violent men; may Nigeria be liberated from the threat of Islamic terror once and for all.

'As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number ... He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success ... So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth' (From Job 5:8-16 ESV).

* move powerfully by his Spirit through Borno's terrorist base-camps to bring hope and courage to those held captive behind a wall of terror and lies; may the dam be breached so that the trickle of defectors might become a flood. Lord have mercy!

* protect Cameroon's Centre for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration and supply it with everything it needs to rehabilitate disillusioned and traumatised men, women and children who have risked their lives in search of new life.

'Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful ... [He] preserves the simple [naive, seducible] ... he saved me' (Psalm 116:5-6 ESV).

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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INSECURITY ENABLES TERRORIST EXPANSION IN NIGERIA

On 10 July Nigeria's Defence Headquarters (DHQ) warned that terrorists based in Northeast Nigeria – i.e. Boko Haram (BH) and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) - were moving to the Northwest with sophisticated weapons. On 28 July terrorism analyst Jacob Zenn warned that if these groups get a foothold amongst the Fulani in the Northwest, then nothing 'will prevent their continued expansion until northern Nigeria becomes overwhelmed'. Analysts already suspect that al-Qaeda affiliate, Ansaru, is recruiting Fulani herdsmen and bandits into its ranks and participating in the Fulani jihad. Meanwhile, Cameroon's Centre for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (launched 2019, in Extreme North region) reports that growing numbers of mostly-Nigerian ex-militants, children and women (sex-slaves) are escaping, surrendering and seeking rehabilitation. The Centre needs help to meet the growing demand. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 533. Advent Amidst Terror

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 533 | 18 Dec 2019
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

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NOTE: This will be the last Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) for 2019. Unless there is a crisis requiring an urgent call to prayer, the next RLPB will be the January Update on 29 January 2020.

Please continue to watch and pray over the Christmas - New Year period. When watching, listening to or reading the news, think of how local Christians might be impacted by events, and pray for them.
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'Advent' is derived from the Latin word adventus, which is a translation of the Greek word parousia which means 'coming'.

ADVENT AMIDST TERROR
by Elizabeth Kendal

The risk of Islamic terror attack is elevated over Christmas as terrorists seek not merely to kill for political gain, but to make a statement about their intention to eliminate Christianity. Across the United Kingdom (UK), undercover SAS officers will be stationed at Christmas markets and other crowded places. The situation will be much the same in Germany, in France, in Belgium and across much of Western Europe and Scandinavia. Europe might have the most potential targets, but Christians in jihadist hot-spots still face the greatest risk.

INDONESIA: On Tuesday 17 December Indonesia's National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono told media that more than 192,000 police and military personnel will be deployed nationwide ahead of Christmas to guard against potential terror attacks. He said, 'Based on intelligence data, there are potential risks ... so we're taking preventative measures but we are also ready to take proactive action.' On 5 December police from the Densus 88 counter-terrorism squad raided a house in the Sentani district of Jayapura, the capital of PAPUA Province, arresting an alleged terrorist and seizing a cache of homemade explosives. While police denied that eight terrorist suspects with ties to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) had also been arrested, Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) director, Sidney Jones, confirmed, 'The recent arrests are linked to members of JAD cells in Bekasi [West Java] and Lampung … .' Terrorism experts have cautioned Papuan authorities to remain vigilant. [Background: RLPB 523 (9 Oct 2019)]. Please pray.

AFRICA'S TERROR AXIS: In March this year, Kurdish-led anti-IS forces captured Islamic State's last stronghold of Baghouz in eastern Syria. As jihadists have left Syria, either to return home or find fresh fields in which to sow misery and death, jihadist terror has escalated across Africa's terror axis.

(1) SOMALIA-KENYA-ETHIOPIA

In northern Somalia's Puntland, Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) is training fighters and recruiting Ethiopians with Amharic-language propaganda that specifically targets churches and Christians [see RLPB 520 (18 Sep 2019)]. Meanwhile, in southern Somalia, al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab continues to inflict terror both inside Somalia and across the border in Kenya where Christians are its primary target.

KENYA: On Friday 6 December at 5pm al-Shabaab militants flagged down a bus in eastern Kenya's Wajir County. The bus - en-route from Nairobi to the north-eastern city of Mandera - was carrying 56 passengers. After ordering the passengers off the bus, the terrorists separated them into two groups: 'locals' (ethnic Somali Muslims) and 'non-locals' (Kenyan Christians). The 'locals' were ordered back onto the bus while the eleven 'non-locals' were executed. The dead included eight Kenyan police officers returning from leave in Nairobi, two teachers and a medical doctor. The teachers and doctor are known to have been active members of evangelical churches. The bus driver and conductor have been arrested, suspected of being al-Shabaab sympathisers who colluded with the terrorists in the planning and execution of the attack. The militants escaped back to neighbouring Somalia. Please pray for all Christians living and serving in eastern Kenya.

(2) NIGERIA - CAMEROON

Voice of America reports (12 Dec): 'Authorities in Cameroon say Boko Haram terrorists have been launching daily attacks on villages along the Nigerian border, killing at least 30 people and injuring scores in the past few months.' Christian aid group Barnabas Fund (BF) reports that in mid-November, Boko Haram militants conducted a raid in Tourou district, in Cameroon's Far North region, in which they hacked to death a 12-year-old Christian schoolboy who resisted their attempt to abduct him as a 'child soldier'. BF also reports that seven people were killed and 21 children and young adults were kidnapped when Boko Haram rampaged through mainly Christian villages in the Far North region in early December. After each attack, the militants escape back to their base in neighbouring Nigeria. [Background: RLPB 518 (4 Sep 2019).] Please pray.

(3) BURKINA FASO – MALI - NIGER

Violent events linked to ISGS between Jan 2018 - May 2019.
Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (10 June 2019)

On Sunday 1 December terrorists stormed a worship service in eastern BURKINA FASO (BF), near the border with Niger. They killed 14 of the 15 men present, leaving the women and children traumatised and destitute [see 'Urgent Update on Burkina Faso' in RLPB 531 (4 Dec 2019)]. In recent weeks, pastors in BF's East region have been threatened. Despite this, Bible colleges in the region still want to proceed with graduation ceremonies and churches still want to celebrate Christmas. Please Pray! 

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3 ESV)

NIGER: On 10 December well-armed terrorists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) - also known as Islamic State in West Africa (an off-shoot of Boko Haram) - launched the most deadly and sophisticated attack on a military base ever seen in Niger. Suicide car-bombers opened the way for militants armed with mortars and riding motorbikes to briefly over-run the Inates base in remote south-western Niger near the border with Mali. At least 71 Nigerien soldiers were killed and 30 remain unaccounted for. ISGS claims to have killed 100 soldiers, wounded dozens more, while capturing weapons, ammunition and 16 vehicles.

Despite being majority Muslim, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali are states with secular government and religious freedom - states where the Church has long been respected for its service which benefits all the people. Today, the tri-border region has become a key focal point for ISGS. Analysts fear that as terror escalates, Niger's overstretched military might opt to withdraw from this remote region to concentrate its forces around the more densely populated cities. This is precisely what has happened in Burkina Faso and Mali. Crisis Group explains, 'The zone is at risk of becoming a no-man's land under the custodianship of a rural [ISGS-infiltrated and backed] jihadist insurgency, with residents more or less held hostage.' The implications for churches, Bible colleges and long-established missions through the wider region are huge. Please pray!

Fulani (courtesy Samaritan's Purse)

ACROSS AFRICA, tribes and peoples with grievances - be they real, imagined or exaggerated - are embracing jihadists who come promising to empower, enrich, rescue and save, while actually harbouring intentions to exploit and enslave. Instead of securing liberty, equity and dignity, the aggrieved peoples are oppressed, abused and sacrificed as cannon-fodder and human shields. It would be better for them if they were to embrace the One who came preaching good news, offering life and liberty, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favour (Luke 4:16-21). They need the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray!

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ADVENT PRAYER

Dear God our Father

Please help us to fully comprehend and embrace what you have done through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ whose birth the angels announced as 'good news of great joy that will be for all the people' (Luke 2:1-21). Empower us by your Holy Spirit to live in the light of this truth, energised with hope, conscious that because of Jesus a new day has dawned. Father, open our eyes, unblock our ears, put life in our legs. May we never grow tired of serving in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, we lift before you the Christians of Mesopotamia and the wider Middle East, as they celebrate Christmas in exile, or in hollowed-out churches ravaged by war, and amidst great insecurity. We lift before you the Christians of Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, indeed all believers who this Christmas will be missing loved ones killed in terror attacks, Islamic jihad and communal violence in the course of 2019. We lift before you Christians in prison in Iran, Pakistan, China, Eritrea and North Korea; as well as those held captive by jihadists in the Malian desert and Northern Nigeria. We lift before you the multitudes of believers across the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia who will celebrate Christmas despite crippling poverty (caused by discrimination) and violent persecution (encouraged by impunity). Oh Father, bless them and keep them safe. May reviving power from the life-giving and ever-present Holy Spirit flood their hearts with joy, hope and peace as they remember, embrace and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

In the name of Jesus,

AMEN

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 518. Nigeria: Land of Perpetual Trauma

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 518 | 04 Sep 2019
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


NIGERIA: LAND OF PERPETUAL TRAUMA
-- includes two critical updates

by Elizabeth Kendal

UPDATE 1) At around 1 am on 14 August Muslim Fulani herdsmen kidnapped Emmanuel Noma [or Numan] and his 60-year-old father, Pastor Elisha Noma of Nagarta Baptist Church in Makiri, Kaduna State. Emmanuel was subsequently released with the demand that he raise the ransom for his father [see last week's RLPB 517 (28 Aug)]. Praise God, on Saturday 31 August Pastor Elisha was released unharmed after payment of ransom following a series of negotiations. The family paid the ransom, explaining, 'We have been in trauma since he was kidnapped ...' The Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Joseph Hayab, responded with joy and lament, saying, 'We thank God for His mercies, we pray for God's intervention in the calamity that seems to have befallen us as a nation.'

Leah Sharibu

UPDATE 2) In February 2018 Boko Haram kidnapped 110 teenage girls from a school in Dapchi, Yobe State. Five girls died during the abduction. A month later, the militants returned the girls, all except Leah Sharibu. The only Christian, Leah was held back because she refused to renounce Christ [see RLPB 448 (28 Mar 2018)]. On 18 July 2019 Boko Haram captured six aid workers from the charity Action Against Hunger. In a proof-of-life video, Christian captive Grace Taku appealed for help stressing that Christian captives Leah Sharibu and Alice Loksha Ngaddah 'were killed because the government did nothing' [see RLPB 513 (31 Jul 2019)]. Praise God, on Saturday 31 August a senior presidential aide addressed journalists in Abuja to end speculation that Leah Sharibu is dead. 'Contrary to false reports, she is alive -- given assurances from our security agencies -- and the government is committed to her safe return, as well as all other hostages to their families...' Meanwhile, the captives and their families remain deeply traumatised.

On 2 September, at the end of an official two week visit to Nigeria, UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard told reporters that the situation she encountered in Nigeria 'gives rise to extreme concern'. In her reports she describes Africa's largest state as 'an injustice pressure-cooker', adding that the 'warning signs are flashing bright red'. She laments that mass killings proceed with impunity, that trust in public institutions has broken down and, consequently, people are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. She warns that 'pretending this is anything short of a crisis is a major mistake'. The administration of illegitimate president Muhammadu Buhari does not seem too concerned. Instead, Nigeria's lawmakers -- who already earn one of the highest salaries in the world -- have agreed to spend 5.55 billion naira (roughly US$15.3 million) buying luxury cars for senators. This, in a country with the highest rate of poverty in the world! [Nigeria has more people living in poverty (87 million; nearly 50 percent of the population) than does in India (71.5 million),  despite India having seven times the population of Nigeria!] This, in a country with insecurity at crisis levels due predominantly to systemic high-level corruption (e.g., 'Armsgate'). Lord have mercy!

On Friday 30 August Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked a military convoy in the Lake Chad area of north-east Borno State. Two trucks hit by rocket propelled grenades were totally destroyed. Eight Nigerian soldiers were killed, five are missing and weapons were stolen. Attacks like this occur every other day! Nigerian soldiers are over-stretched, under-supplied and demoralised, bordering on mutinous.

Boko Haram's Cameroonian victims.
Courtesy: Aid to the Church in Need

On Monday night 29 July Boko Haram fighters struck with a new terror tactic. A band of jihadists slipped into the Christian village of Gagalari in Yagoua Diocese, in Cameroon's Far North region. They had come to punish women who had allegedly passed information to the Multinational Joint Task Force assembled to fight the jihadists. Going house to house, the jihadists seized eight women whom they dragged to the outskirts of the town. Before releasing the women, they sliced one ear off each. Cameroonian soldiers found the women and took them for medical treatment. The women, their families and their community are deeply traumatised.


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene in Nigeria to raise up a government committed to peace, justice and righteousness, for the sake of the Church and all Nigeria's needy peoples. May the Lord have mercy!

Should the Lord not pity Nigeria, that great nation, in which there are more than 190 million persons, many of whom do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? (Adapted from Jonah 4:11.)

* fan the flames of faith in God which are rising up among a people rapidly losing faith in government; may Nigerian Christians in every town, city and state, and across the North-South divide, join together in prayer for divine deliverance from 'the calamity' that has befallen their nation.

* redeem the suffering and trauma, and turn it to good, may eyes be opened and hearts softened to receive the Gospel and may the Church take her place as peace-maker, healer and 'repairer of the breach' (from Isaiah 58).

Prayer for Nigeria: Psalm 94


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NIGERIA, A LAND OF PERPETUAL TRAUMA

Oil-rich Nigeria is the largest nation on the African continent. Home to 190 million Nigerians, it is fast becoming a failed state due to government ineptitude, systemic corruption and escalating insecurity. The Christian crisis in the Muslim North and mixed Middle Belt is spreading into the Christian South-East. Mass killings -- mostly of Christians by militant Muslims -- continue with impunity. Trust in public institutions has broken down and people are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. Christians live under constant threat of Islamic terror causing death and displacement; whole communities are traumatised. Meanwhile, the government of illegitimate president Muhammadu Buhari does virtually nothing to help, preferring to focus on enriching itself. Please pray that the Lord will intervene to raise up a government committed to peace, justice and righteousness.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 440. Jan 2018 Update: Inc. Burma, Syria, Cameroon, China, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 440 | Wed 31 Jan 2018

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com

by Elizabeth Kendal

JANUARY 2018 UPDATE -- this month we prayed concerning ...

* BURMA (RLPB 438), where intensive fighting is underway in Burma's northern Kachin State with the military eager to seize control of valuable gold, amber and jade mining areas.

BURMA UPDATE (1): Ndup Yang Camp sits on the bank of the Malikha River, east of Sumprabum, some 200km north of the Kachin capital Myitkyina. Clashes between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military erupted in the area on 17 January. With Burmese troops firing artillery from the opposite bank of the river, residents of the Ndup Yang Camp -- a total of 260 households consisting of 949 people -- fled for their lives into the jungle, many with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The camp is now empty and the whereabouts of the displaced Kachin are unknown. Reverend Bang Seng, who is in charge of Ndut Yang Camp, has been informed that one pregnant woman has since given birth in the jungle. Please pray for Burma's long-suffering Kachin believers.

BURMA UPDATE (2): On 2 January the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) elected General N'Ban La (70) as its new chairman. Gen. N'Ban La also serves as deputy chair of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), an alliance of seven armed ethnic groups yet to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). [They refuse to sign while the junta's preconditions include disarmament and acceptance of the flawed 2008 constitution.] Pursuing economic interests, the West has essentially abandoned the Christian Kachin, citing their refusal to sign the NCA. Eager to advance its own interests, China is now wooing the Kachin, offering to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Kachin State from China. Observers expect that under Gen. N'Ban La, the KIO will give up on the West and will instead look East. Of course this will leave the Kachin vulnerable to the machinations of the Chinese Communist Party. Please pray.

* SYRIA (RLPB 438; updated in RLPB 439), where, on 8 January, Christian properties in the Old City of Damascus were hit by rebel shells; and where Christians in northern Afrin are imperilled due to Turkish shelling and aerial bombardment, as well as from Turkish-backed al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.

SYRIA UPDATE (DAMASCUS): Nine civilians were killed and 21 wounded in Bab Touma on Monday 22 January, when jihadists based in Eastern Ghouta shelled the predominantly Christian district of the Old City. Three-year-old Elias, whose parents were critically wounded, was among the dead. The shelling commenced just as school had finished for the day; several youths from the Church-run Al Riaya School were among those killed and seriously wounded. Please pray.

SYRIA UPDATE (AFRIN): Rev Abdalla Homsi, of the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church of Aleppo, has issued a statement condemning Turkey's 'unjustified aggression'. With Turkish forces fighting alongside rebel and Islamic factions, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Aphrem II appealed (again) for the West 'to put an end to all forms of external support for irregular militias and armed groups operating in Syrian territory'. Turkey's President Erdogan has declared his intention to launch an attack on Manbij (100km east of Afrin) and to continue the fight eastward until no 'terrorist' (read: Kurd) is left 'right up to our border with Iraq'. In reality, the Turkish military is struggling to hold on to its gains. Failure could trigger a nationalist backlash against minorities in Turkey. The situation is extremely volatile and dangerous. Please pray.

'Cast all your anxiety on him [God, v6] because he cares for you' (1 Peter 5:7 NIV).

* NIGERIA (RLPB 439), where the extra-legal arrest of a convert from Islam and her Christian friend has triggered a religio-political crisis, because Nigeria's constitution guarantees religious freedom. No further news is available. [See also The Islamisation of Nigeria, Religious Liberty Monitoring (23 Jan 2018)].

 
JANUARY 2018 ROUND-UP -- also this month ...

* CAMEROON: BOKO HARAM TORCHES ROUM

On the night of 15 January Boko Haram militants stormed Roum village in Cameroon's Far North region (which borders Nigeria's Borno State), setting it ablaze. Two churches (one Evangelical, one Catholic) were destroyed, along with 93 huts, 20 food storehouses, and 11 motorbikes. Not far from Roum, a health centre belonging to the Evangelical Church was also attacked. One church leader told World Watch Monitor (29 Jan) that the violence and looting has become routine. It must be terrible to live with such insecurity; please pray.

* CHINA: NEW RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS REGULATIONS IN FORCE


China's new Religious Affairs Regulations come into force on 1 February. The regulations give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) full control over religion. Unregistered religious activity will be illegal and all approved religious activity will be heavily regulated and monitored. Resistance will result in demolitions and administrative detentions. [See: The Return of 'Mao-style Terror and Control', Religious Liberty Monitoring (25 Jan 2018).] Meanwhile, the Vatican has already capitulated, retiring one bishop so he might be replaced by a CCP appointee. Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen (retired), who in November 2016 urged the Vatican not to take this path [see RLPB 387 (5 Dec 2016)], has accused the Vatican of 'selling out the Catholic Church in China'. Meanwhile, having already demolished much of the residential accommodation at Larung Gar (possibly the largest centre of Buddhist learning in the world), the CCP is now preparing to take over all administration, installing scores of CCP cadres at the site -- in every department, at every level and in every corner -- to ensure total compliance [see report by Human Rights Watch]. Pray for China. May God give his precious Church much wisdom and grace to navigate the 'New Era'.

* INDIA:  HARASSED, THREATENED AND MURDERED

JHARKHAND: Morning Star News (MSN) reports on several incidents of violence against Christians over Christmas. In each case, Christians had been engaged in peaceful worship when they were violently attacked by Hindu nationalists. As MSN reports, Jharkhand's Adivasis (indigenous tribes) are also harassing and threatening Christians. This is because Jharkahand's Hindu nationalist (BJP) state government is exploiting the issue of religious conversion deliberately to divide the tribals. The BJP's goal is to set the Adivasi animists against the Christians who have been leading a campaign for land rights, justice and equity. [See: The Shameful Politics Behind Jharkhand's Anti-Conversion Law, Religious Liberty Monitoring (1 Sep 2017).] Pray for the Church in Jharkhand.

Pastor Gideon (left, in white)
photo: Morning Star News.

TAMIL NADU: Morning Star News reports that on 20 January, church members discovered the body of their Pastor Gideon Periyaswamy (43) who had been murdered. It seems that upper caste Hindus in the area had been unhappy that persons of lower caste were entering the area, drawn in by Pastor Gideon's Gospel ministry. Only one week earlier, Pastor Gideon informed police that Hindu nationalists were threatening him. Pray for the Church in India.

* IRAN: MORE BELIEVERS INCARCERATED

On 6 January, in a Revolutionary court in Tehran, Shamiram Isavi, the wife of Assyrian Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, was sentenced to five years in prison. Judge Ahmadzadeh found Shamiram Isavi guilty of 'acting against national security by organizing home churches, attending Christian seminars abroad and training Christian leaders in Iran for the purpose of espionage'. Isavi denies that she ever acted against Iran's national security. Isavi and her husband were arrested in their home in Tehran on 26 December 2014, along with their son, Ramin Bet Tamraz, and 12 Christian converts. In June 2016, Pastor Victor and three converts were sentenced to 10- and 15-year prison terms [see RLPB 414 (11 July 2017)]. Their appeals are pending. Furthermore, On 28 December converts Eskandar Rezaei and Pastor Soroush Saraei were each sentenced to eight years in prison for 'acting against national security'. Pray for the Church in Iran.

* KYRGYZSTAN: PERSECUTION CULMINATES IN CHURCH BLAZE

Kaji-Sai Baptist Church
photo: World Watch Monitor

Located in Kyrgyzstan's north-eastern Issyk-Kul [Ysyk-Kol] Region, Kaji-Sai Baptist Church (established 1990; registered 1994) has long endured harassment and threats. Led by government-appointed imams, local Muslims are resisting the Christian presence. The police unashamedly back their fellow Muslims. Forum 18 reports that in January 2011 the police in Karakol responded to one attack by convening what was essentially a 'reconciliation session' (as occurs in Egypt). Under duress, the Christians were coerced to write a letter of forgiveness, essentially absolving their Muslim attackers. With Muslims now confident of impunity, persecution has only escalated. The persecution culminated on 2 January when unidentified attackers attempted to burn down the church. On Sunday 7 January the Baptists worshipped in the ashes. They have vowed to continue services and restore the church. Without police protection, this situation could get much worse yet. Please pray.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' (Psalm 91:1-2 NIV)

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 296. Nigeria: Boko Haram to face regional force; polls postponed

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 296 | Wed 11 Feb 2015

NIGERIA: BOKO HARAM TO FACE REGIONAL FORCE; POLLS POSTPONED
By Elizabeth Kendal

Boko Haram mimics Islamic State in Syria and Iraq: seizing territory, declaring a Caliphate, taking 'infidel' women captive, telling Christians to convert to Islam or get out and rejecting borders imposed by former colonial powers. In Nigeria's north-east state of Borno, over 1.5 million Nigerians have fled Boko Haram terror. Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, now hosts over a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) more than doubling the population of the city, which is straining Maiduguri's facilities severely. There are more than 87,000 Nigerian refugees in Diffa, south-east Niger (one-sixth of the population); some 47,000 in north Cameroon's Maroua refugee camp; and when Boko Haram sacked Baga in January, killing 2,000 people, some 14,000 fled across Lake Chad into southern Chad. These IDPs and refugees are totally destitute and the communities hosting them are under immense strain.

CAMEROON: On Thursday 5 February some 800 Boko Haram militants attacked the town of Fotokal, burning mosques and churches, stealing livestock and shooting villagers. More than 90 people were killed and over 500 wounded. A spokesman for the Cameroon military, Colonel Didier Badjeck, reported that Boko Haram used civilians as human shields, making it exceedingly difficult for the army to respond. Eventually the jihadists were forced back across the border.
NIGER: On Friday 6 February Boko Haram jihadists attacked the towns of Bosso and Diffa in the south-eastern corner of Niger, firing mortars into the towns from the Doutchi bridge over the Yobe River (which forms the border). A stray mortar landed in Diffa's central market, killing a child and wounding 20 local residents, six critically. The jihadists also attempted to raid the Diffa prison before the Niger Army repelled them. According to the defence minister, the battle claimed the lives of 109 militants and four Niger soldiers.

REGIONAL FORCE BEING ASSEMBLED: On Saturday 7 February, the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin agreed to establish an 8,700 strong regional force to finally dismantle Boko Haram. France has sent a reconnaissance plane and ten military advisors to Niger to assist. The regional force is expected to be ready for deployment in March.

CAMEROON: On Sunday 8 February Boko Haram jihadists attacked the village of Kerawa (where they clashed with the Cameroon Army) and the nearby town of Kolofata (where they stole food and livestock). They also hijacked a bus near the border area of Koza, driving it back towards Nigeria with some 20 captives, 12 of whom were subsequently killed after the jihadists decided to keep only the young girls.
NIGER: Early on Sunday 8 February jihadists shelled Diffa again while battling Niger soldiers on the south-eastern edge of Diffa. On 9 February jihadists who had smuggled themselves into Differ the night before attacked the prison again. The Niger government has declared a state of emergency in Diffa, thereby increasing the powers of the security forces and allowing them to search homes.

screen grab from video

VIDEO: On 9 February Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a new video in which he mocked the plans for a regional force, saying Boko Haram would welcome the troops before picking them off one by one. Linking his jihad to the global jihad, Shekau ranted: 'We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to fight the world. We are going to fight the world on the principle that whoever does not obey Allah and the Prophet [must] either obey [convert] or die or become a slave [dhimmi].'

NIGERIAN POLLS POSTPONED: On Saturday 8 February Nigeria's National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, urged Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections on the grounds the military could not provide nationwide election security while all available resources were being deployed to the north-east to fight Boko Haram. The INEC agreed and Nigeria's general elections will now be held on 28 March with gubernatorial polls on 11 April. Dasuki vowed there would be no further postponement as all known camps belonging to Boko Haram will be destroyed (supposedly) in the next six weeks. Dasuki's claim there was no political motive underlying his call for a delay has not stopped the Opposition accusing President Jonathan and the ruling PDP of postponing the polls to give themselves more time to counter the ascendency of northern Islamist presidential candidate Major General Muhammadu Buhari and their party. A legal challenge to Buhari's eligibility to contest the election will be heard in the Federal High Court in Abuja on 23 February. There is concern that northern Muslim opposition elements will use the postponement and the legal challenge as pretexts for rioting. Any insecurity can only benefit Boko Haram.


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:

* vulnerable Christian communities across Muslim majority northern Nigeria, south-east Niger and northern Cameroon, as well as throughout Nigeria's mixed and volatile Middle Belt, will know and experience God as their refuge and strength, their very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46)

* the Lord will extend grace and mercy to the innocents and captives trapped in Boko Haram-controlled territories as this conflict unfolds, for they will certainly be exploited as human shields and targeted for 'revenge'. Pray especially for Borno's exceedingly vulnerable Christian communities, for they will be gravely imperilled. (Psalm 46)

* President Goodluck Jonathan and all other Christian leaders and lay-people across the region and  throughout the world will fall to their knees and put their faith in the Lord of hosts who alone can ensure the success of this mission to finally dismantle Boko Haram.

'And David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?" And the Lord said to David, "Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand."  And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood." Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim [the God who breaks through].' (From 2 Samuel 5:17-25 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE  
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BOKO HARAM TO FACE REGIONAL FORCE; NIGERIA'S POLLS POSTPONED

An 8,700-strong regional force is being formed to finally destroy Boko Haram. Comprising troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin, the force's expected deployment is in March. Boko Haram has driven some 1.5 million Nigerians from their homes, with around one million in Maiduguri (Borno capital) and some 155,000 in Niger, Chad and Cameroon where Boko Haram has escalated its attacks recently. The Nigerian elections have been postponed to 28 March and the Opposition is protesting vigorously. Concerns are that if opposition elements riot, then the insecurity will only benefit Boko Haram. Pray for the Church in Nigeria's mixed, volatile Middle Belt and for vulnerable Christian communities in the Muslim north. Please pray for the traumatised and devastated Christian communities across southern Niger and northern Cameroon. Prayer: Psalm 46.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)

RLPB 272. Nigeria & Cameroon: Boko Haram at War

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 272 | Wed 06 Aug 2014

By Elizabeth Kendal

NIGERIA & CAMEROON: BOKO HARAM AT WAR

NIGERIA: CHURCHES ATTACKED

On Sunday 27 July Boko Haram militants attacked the Saint Charles Catholic Church in the predominantly Christian Sabon Gari district of Kano. The militants threw an IED (improvised explosive device) at worshippers coming out of the morning service, killing five and wounding eight.

On Wednesday night 30 July Boko Haram militants invaded Kwajaffa, Tashan Alade and other communities in the predominantly Christian Hawul Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State. The militants used IEDs and petrol bombs to set alight and totally raze at least five churches before threatening to return to torch the Hawul LGA HQ Secretariat. An eye witness reported that no lives were lost and only churches were targeted, and the militants operated freely without interference from security services.

On Sunday 3 August Fulani gunmen, possibly in league with Boko Haram militants, attacked a Catholic church in Ungwar Pau-Pau village in the Kachia LGA of Kaduna. The gunmen arrived during morning worship, killed the Christian youth who had been keeping guard, invaded the church and sprayed automatic weapon fire throughout the sanctuary, wounding dozens.  A survivor reports, 'They came with sophisticated weapons, shooting ... .'

NIGERIA: SUICIDE BOMBINGS

Northern Nigeria has recently suffered a spate of suicide bombings in which all the bombers were teenage girls. One in Kano on Sunday 27 July; two in Kano on 28 July; two in Yobe on 29 July and another in Kano on 30 July. [See Religious Liberty Monitoring (31 July 2014) for full details.] Naturally this new trend of using teenage girls as suicide bombers has caused a shroud of horror to descend over the Christian enclave of Chibok, from where Boko Haram snatched over 200 schoolgirls in April.
[See RLPB 257 (22 April 2014)].

Citizens are calling for expert forensic DNA testing to ascertain the identities of the girls, as there are fears that Boko Haram might be using the mostly Christian teenage girls abducted from Chibok as human bombs.

CAMEROON: DARING RAIDS

On Sunday morning 27 July Boko Haram launched a daring raid into Cameroon's Extreme North. Hundreds of militants wearing Cameroonian army uniforms stormed the town of Kolofata, just 5km from the Nigerian border (82km north of Maroua), shelling and shooting indiscriminately. They targeted the home of Amadou Ali, Cameroon's Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Ali was not there, so the militants abducted his wife and her maid. They also seized the influential community leader and Sultan of Kolofata, Seiny Boukar Lamine, along with his wife and five children. At least 18 civilians and security personnel were killed in what was an extremely violent raid. The militants also targeted the local hospital, apparently in search of two workers of Western origin, who turned out to be away on holidays. A recent report in New York Times says al-Qaeda has been earning most of its funds from ransoms paid for kidnapped Europeans. On 29 July Cameroonian soldiers rescued Mrs Ali, but at least 16 people died in the rescue operation.

On Thursday afternoon 24 July Boko Haram launched a massive attack targeting Cameroonian military positions at Bargaram (also close to the Nigerian border). Between 500 and 600 militants stormed the town and ten Cameroonian soldiers died in the fire-fight which lasted well into the next day. An unknown number of people were abducted, among them Pastor Jean Marcel Kesvere (45). World Watch Monitor reports that Pastor Jean's body was found on Monday 28 July, dumped in the bush just a few kilometres from Bargaram. He leaves a wife and eight children. The entire Christian community is in shock, especially the members of the local Lutheran Brethren Church where Pastor Jean served for the past two years.

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE 'LORD OF HOSTS' WILL INTERVENE TO --

* 'frustrate the ways of the wicked' (Psalm 146:9c NIV) and bind the powers behind Boko Haram (Matthew 18:18) so that the group will know only failure until it is totally discredited amongst Muslims; may its evil be exposed until all Nigerians reject it completely.

* sever Boko Haram's supply lines until it is weakened and ultimately defeated. 'Break the arm [mechanism of action] of the wicked and evil-doer; call his wickedness to account until you find none.' (Psalm 10:15 ESV)

* shield and protect Northern Nigeria's vulnerable Christian communities. 'The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.' (Psalm 34:7 ESV)

* enable the escape or rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls and any other victims Boko Haram is holding to use as human shields or human bombs. 'The Lord sets the prisoners free.' (Psalm 146:7c ESV)

Pray Psalm 77 for the Chibok schoolgirls.

Our motivation for prayer: 'I will remember the deeds of the Lord ... You are the God who works wonders ...' (Psalm 77:11a,14a ESV)

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE 
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BOKO HARAM AT WAR IN NIGERIA & CAMEROON

Northern Nigeria has recently suffered a spate of deadly church attacks and suicide bombings. In six bombings in four days, all the suicide bombers were teenage girls. Many are therefore questioning if Boko Haram is using the mostly Christian schoolgirls abducted from Chibok in April as human bombs as well as human shields. The group has also launched several large-scale daring raids into Cameroon's Extreme North in which many have been abducted and killed, including Pastor Jean Marcel Kesvere (45). Pastor Jean leaves a wife and eight children and a Christian community in shock. Christians across Northern Nigeria are wondering if they will ever again know peace and security. Pray that God will intervene and bind the powers behind Boko Haram.  Please pray for Nigeria and Cameroon.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today 
(Deror Books, Dec 2012).