Nigeria

More than 60 churches were burned and thousands of Christian-owned homes destroyed in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north after the recent election of incumbent Christian president Goodluck Jonathan, according to the Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors.

Riots broke out Monday after the preliminary results of Saturday’s vote were announced. Jonathan, who was sworn in as president in May 2010, was announced president over his Muslim opponent Muhammadu Buhari.

“Last year there were more martyrs in Nigeria – approximately 2,000 Christians killed in the northern part – than in any other country in the world,” said Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller. “Nigeria is such a key country in the spread of Christianity all over Africa.” more >>

At least four people in a predominantly Christian village near Jos, Nigeria, were reported dead after a pre-dawn attack Monday by Muslim youth.

According to local reports, a mother and her four children were shot and killed during the attack, though an official reported only a total of four deaths.

Several more were also reportedly wounded in the village of Dabwak, located near Jos, the capital of Nigeria’s Plateau state. more >>

JOS, Nigeria – Amid sectarian violence by Muslims, Christians and security forces in this capital city of Plateau state, a flash point for ethnic and religious conflict in Nigeria, scores of Christians were estimated to have been killed in the past month.

Christmas Eve bombings by Islamic extremists have touched off tit-for-tat violence that has killed more than 200 people in Plateau state, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). A Jan. 27 report by HRW said the Christmas bombings in Jos left at least 107 dead.

In the predominantly Christian Barkin Ladi Government Area on the outskirts of Jos, Muslim assailants led by a police officer from Abuja on Jan. 27 killed 14 Christians, according to a military spokesman, and the next day Muslim youths stabbed two students at the University of Jos on the assumption that they were Christians. more >>

A key translator for the Tarok Bible translation project is still reported missing since his disappearance late last year.

“Stephen” was kidnapped in the violence stricken region of Jos, Nigeria, on December 16, with little known about his condition or current location.

He worked as project coordinator for The Seed Company, an affiliate of Wycliffe Associates, whose mission is to accelerate Scripture translation and impact for people without God’s Word. more >>

Nigerian security officials foiled an attempt to bomb a church during a packed Sunday service in Bauchi city.

The explosive, an improvised bomb concealed in a metal casing, was swiftly diffused once police were alerted by witnesses who saw a man leave the United Methodist church after dropping off a bag.

The unknown bomber fled the scene on a commercial motorcycle after alarmed church members pursued him. more >>

Gunmen suspected to be members of a radical Muslim sect drove by a church in northern Nigeria Sunday evening and killed the policeman standing guard outside, a police spokesman said Monday.

Another two people were seriously injured in the church attack that occurred in Maiduguri. The gunmen drove by in a tinted car around 8 p.m. local time and opened fired on the policeman guarding a church where Christians were worshipping inside, said Lawal Abdullahi, according to Agence France-Presse.

The radical sect Boko Haram is suspected to be connected to the Sunday attack. The same group had claimed responsibility for attacks on several churches in Maiduguri on Christmas Eve that resulted in six deaths. more >>