A furious Muslim mob in northern Nigeria’s Kano state burned down a pastor’s home, church, and school then hacked him to death with machetes as a form of retaliation.
The Rev. Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church in Kano state’s Massu village, Sumaila County was attacked on Sept. 22 after a woman was killed by a man who had reportedly converted to Christianity, Morning Star News reports.
“The Muslims felt the young man who killed the woman in a fight is a Christian, and they likely targeted the pastor for attack because it was through the ministry of Pastor Shuaibu that many Muslims were converted to the Christian faith,” said Hosle Tongnan Michael, a friend and colleague of Pastor Shuaibu.
Michael said Shuaibu found shelter in a neighboring village the night before the attack, then returned to Massu to help evacuate students from his school as a safety measure.
“Pastor Shuaibu believed that the tension generated by the ugly incident was doused and thought he could stay with his family and other people in Massu,” Michael said. “However, the Muslims gathered their mob and descended on him, cut him badly with machetes and burned down his house, the church and the school.”
Shuaibu’s wife and children were able to escape.
Christians in nearby villages heard about the attack and called the police. They took Pastor Shuaibu to a nearby hospital where he died of his wounds.
Michael pointed out that problems started within the community after the young man, who had left Islam, turned himself in to police after killing the Muslim woman during an argument on Sept. 21.
“We know that at this kind of time, it is an immeasurable risk to be a Christian, especially in the northern part of Nigeria,” Michael explained. “Anyone serving Christ can’t be sure of being alive the following day in northern Nigeria.”
Michael told Morning Star News that Pastor Shuaibu greatly contributed to the building of a school for indigenous Hausa Christian children who would have been denied an education due to their faith.
“Under his watch, we were able to raise funds and drill boreholes from which Christian communities that were denied access to government sources of water could access water,” Michael said. “At one point one of the sources of water at the mosque was refurbished by us as our support to the Muslim community, which we believed would foster peace and avert some of the obvious threats against the peaceful Christian brethren.”
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