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 561. Nigeria (1): Christian Crisis in Kaduna

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 561 | Wed 05 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 (1): CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN KADUNA
Part 2 will be the subject of next week's RLPB 562
By Elizabeth Kendal

Nigeria's Sharia divide
(click on map to enlarge)

Despite its location in the North-West Region of Northern Nigeria and also being one of 12 states ruled (unconstitutionally) by Sharia Law, Kaduna State actually straddles Nigeria's ethnic-religious fault-line. The north is predominantly Hausa-Fulani Muslim whilst the south is populated by numerous ethnic groups that are predominantly Christian. On Sunday 2 August the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State held a prayer and protest event in response to the violence ravaging southern Kaduna - violence that is escalating despite a 24-hour curfew. The 'Black Sunday' event was held at the ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) church in Narayi, a suburb on the south-eastern edge of Kaduna City. Outside, the protesters displayed banners bearing messages such as 'stop the killings in Southern Kaduna', 'CAN says no to continued killings', 'enough of the bloodshed', 'widows and orphans are increasing', and more. The CAN Chairman of Kaduna State chapter, the Reverend John Joseph Hayab, said this prayer event will continue every Sunday through the month of August.

Kaduna State (southern states labeled)
(click on map to enlarge)

The following attacks all occurred in predominantly Christian Local Government Areas (LGAs) of southern Kaduna. On 9 July at around 11:30pm, Fulani militants stormed two communities in Zangon-Kataf LGA. Upon hearing that an attack was imminent, primary school teacher Mr. James Enoch (36) urged the women in his family to take the children and flee to a neighbouring community while he and other men went to the outskirts. Unbeknown to Mr Enoch, his family remained in the village, in the home of his cousin. Upon arrival, the militants went house to house attacking villagers in their beds, killing 24, wounding many others and setting homes on fire. Mr. Enoch lost seven members of his family that night: his wife, his stepmother, three of his siblings, his brother's wife and her baby were all hacked or burnt to death. Security agencies had been alerted, but to no avail. More than 1000 people are currently residing at the Mercy internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp run by local church members in the nearby town of Zonkwa. Camp coordinator, Reverend Gambo Waziri, reports having 'about 15 pregnant women, 153 nursing mothers and victims who survived the carnage with bullet wounds, responding to treatments in some of the hospitals'.

On 16 July Fulani militants attacked several villages in Kachia LGA, killing four residents and abducting 32. On 17 July Fulani militants murdered Mr Ayuba Bulus on his farm in Kajuru LGA. Later that day, they looted and destroyed a property in the nearby Efele settlement, killing Gloria Shagari (25) and her children Dorcas (6) and Faith (3), as well as Ayuba Bulus (40) and Hussaini Daudu (40). Another victim, Baptist church leader Reverend Thomas Gambo, remains in hospital in a critical condition. On Sunday 19 July at around 10.30 pm, Fulani militants armed with guns and machetes attacked a wedding reception at a home in Kaura LGA, killing 18 and wounding 31. This was only one of several attacks in Kaura LGA that night. On 20 July at around 7pm, nine people were killed and an unknown number wounded when Fulani militants attacked another village in Zangon-Kataf LGA. On 24 July at around 7pm, ten people were killed when Fulani militants attacked Zikpak town in Jema'a LGA. The dead include ECWA pastor, the Rev Shamah Kuyet Ishaya, Daniel Bala (49) who was walking home from church choir practice, and a five-year-old boy named Joel Cephas.

On 23 July hundreds of Atyap women [the Atyap being the indigenous people of the Zangon-Kataf, Kaura and Jema'a LGAs] demonstrated at Atak Njei Agwam Atyap palace [the palace of the traditional ruler of Atyap people] in Zangon-Kataf to express their sorrow and anger over the massacres. The women describe their communities as being 'under siege by herdsmen' and wonder why the government is not doing anything to protect them. 'Our husbands, children and relations are being slaughtered like rams on a daily basis, and this government is just watching. Our lives don't matter to this government. We can't go to our farms, we can't go to the markets, and we are not safe even in our homes. So where do we run?' The women lamented that they have become refugees in their own land, saying many of the villagers were moving to IDP camps for their own safety.

When Fulani militants attacked Kajuru LGA in early June, they killed all of Mrs Azumi Boka’s eleven children. The blind 93-year-old recounts her ordeal through streams of tears. ‘I am one of the oldest women in our community’, she says. ‘I have never experienced such calamity. I never knew someday I will wake-up being chase away from my ancestral land by Fulani herdsmen whom we have lived with for decades. Why am I even alive? Should I blame God for allowing this kind of calamity to befall me? Why me God?’

'Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children ...' (from Lamentations 2:19 ESV)

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* counsel, comfort and sustain Nigeria's suffering Church, particularly those who are this day grieving the loss of loved ones, nursing physical and psychological wounds, lamenting loss of security and struggling between doubt and faith, despair and hope. Lord, have mercy.

* intervene in Nigeria and especially at this time in Kaduna where insecurity and violence are particularly severe; may a revived Church keep trusting her God; and may the Lord establish justice, righteousness and peace in the land, and empower those who would 'turn back the battle at the gate' (Isaiah 28:5-6 ESV).

* bless and protect all who risk much to share the Gospel with Hausa-Fulani Muslims as the Lord Jesus Christ continues to build his Church in Nigeria's volatile North and Middle Belt.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN KADUNA, NIGERIA

Kaduna State straddles Nigeria's ethnic-religious fault-line. The north is predominantly Hausa-Fulani Muslim while southern Kaduna is populated by numerous predominantly Christian ethnic groups. Fulani militant attacks on villages in southern Kaduna have escalated markedly. In July alone, more than 120, mostly Christian villagers, were killed - shot, hacked or burnt to death, often in their beds. Many more have been wounded. Thousands of villagers have been displaced and are now being cared for in church-run camps. Despite the southern regions being under a 24-hour curfew, Fulani militants move freely, murdering, terrorising and ethnically cleansing at will; nobody is ever arrested! Neither the government nor the security services seem willing or able to provide security. Southern Kaduna's imperilled and traumatised Christians need our prayers. Please pray for the Church in Nigeria.

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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