Moslem mob machetes Kano pastor to death, burns church, school

Angry Moslem youths’ penultimate Thursday reportedly attacked and killed a pastor identified as Reverend Yohanna Shuaibu in Massu, a village in Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano State.

It was gathered that the mobs also burnt down the slain pastor’s house, church and mission school.

A report by a Catholic magazine disclosed that at least 3,462 Christians, including ten priests or pastors, were murdered in Nigeria in the first 200 days of 2021.

In addition to the Christians who’ve been killed in the first 200 days of 2021, some 3,000 Christians, many of them young girls and women, have been kidnapped by Islamic terrorists and their whereabouts remains unknown.

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At a structural level, close to 300 churches were threatened or attacked and closed or destroyed or burnt since January 2021.

According to report, the recent killing in Kano happened when a young Muslim man who converted to Christianity allegedly killed his brother’s wife during a fight and the mobs suspected that the pastor has hand in the alleged conversion.

The statement reads, “A few days ago one young man who converted from Islam but has neither been going to Church nor mosque fought with his brother’s wife. In the cause of the fight, he hit her with pestle and she died, the young man surrendered himself to the Mopol that is stationed in the area and was taken to the station for further prosecution.

“The place became so tense as people who heard the position of the Moslems in the area advised the Reverend to leave the area for a safer place because the Moslems felt the young man who killed a woman in a fight is a Christian, sensing that as usual, they may attack the Reverend as the main target especially because of his obvious exploits,” the statement said.

The pastor, however, left for one of the neighbouring villages called Biri where he stayed for a night, the next day he came back to vacate the school pupils to avoid any eventualities knowing that if the school activities continued, the children can easily be targeted and killed.

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“Late Reverend Shuaibu noticed that the tension was doused and he thought he could stay with his family and people, but the Moslems gather their mob, descended on him, macheted him badly and burnt down his house, the church as well as the school in the night. His wife was able to sneak out with the children in the midst of the mob since it was dark already,” the statement however reads.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna confirmed the incident but said normalcy has since returned to the area.

DSP Haruna said six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of the pastor and one other who allegedly murdered the lady.