Nigeria: Pastor killed in front of his church, other churches targeted in arson rampage

Still more jihadist violence to report against Nigerian churches on Christmas Eve. "Christmas Eve tragedy: Serial blasts, arson in Jos, Borno," by Moses Gbande and Gbenga Akinkugbethe for the Nigerian Compass, December 25:

While the world prepared for the celebration of Christmas yesterday, the residents of Jos, in Plateau State, and Maiduguri, in Borno State were thrown into tears, blood and death .

At least four successive bomb explosions rocked Jos, killing no fewer than 30 people, while suspected members of the Boko Haram sect unleashed mayhem on Maiduguri.

More recent reports indicated seven bombs.

No fewer than two people were feared killed in Maiduguri.

The explosions in Jos, which began around 7:30 pm, occurred at different intervals with the fourth one recorded some few minutes after 9pm.

The blasts sent many people scampering for safety. It occurred at a major area in the Jos metropolis but at different locations.

According to witnesses, the first blast was in front of a popular Catholic Church at Gada Biu which is barely a kilometre to the Plateau State Police Command's headquarters.

The other blasts sites are also within this vicinity but they were not concentrated. [...]

The situation was further aggravated by security agents who were shooting heavily and sporadically. This caused further tension and panic among the already shell-shocked and traumatised public who further took to their heels almost aimlessly.

There was no explanation for the shooting by the members of the security outfits.

This would not be the first time government forces were caught underprepared by jihadists.

Distress calls to the four hot lines of the State Command Police were neither acknowledged nor answered.

In Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, pandemonium reigned as people suspected to be members of the Boko Haram religious group went on the rampage torching churches and structures believed to be owned by Christians.

A pastor of the Baptist Church , Rev. Bulus T. Narya, was confirmed killed at the front of his church at the Alamderi Dala area of the city and the place of worship was set ablaze.

Also, the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) was said to be on fire as at press time.

And like in Jos, security agents were also reportedly shooting sporadically, a situation which forced many of the residents to stay in-doors in self-imposed curfew.

Sources informed the Nigerian Compass on Saturday that the security agencies had a prior knowledge of yesterday's attack by the Boko Haram sect which necessitated the beefing up of security around all the churches in the city.

It was learnt that the intelligence report by the State Security Service (SSS) had it that the attack would take place on Christmas eve. However, despite the seeming preparedness of the security agencies, suspected members of the dreaded sect still struck.

At least one local official questioned the level of preparedness, and how seriously security forces took the threats in Jos.

Meanwhile, the Plateau State government has called for calm.

Posted by Marisol on December 26, 2010 12:04 AM

Time Running Out for Apostate Pastor Facing Execution...Obama urged to come to aid of pastor facing execution in Iran

By: Ethan Cole, Christian Post

Monday, 1 November 2010, 17:02 (IST)

A US government body in charge of monitoring religious freedom in the world is urging the Obama administration to demand Iran that release a Christian pastor who is facing execution for apostasy.

The Obama administration should press Iran to release Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been jailed for over one year, expressed the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in a statement Friday.

The non-partisan commission noted that past experiences with Iran have shown that pressure from the international community can influence the fate of prisoners.

“This case is further evidence that there is no transparency or justice in Iran’s so-called legal system for religious minorities,” remarked USCIRF Chair Leonard Leo.

“Time is of the essence here. This man’s life is at stake. We call upon our government and the international community to press for his release and ensure that Iran takes no extreme action in this case or in others like it.”

Nadarkhani, the leader of a church network in Rasht, Iran, was arrested on October 13, 2009, after he objected to the practice of forcing Christian school students – including his own children – to read the Koran. He argued that the Iranian constitution gives parents the right to raise children in their own faith.

The Northern Iranian pastor and later his wife, Fatemeh Passandideh, were charged with apostasy. While Passandideh was released earlier in October after spending four months in jail, according to sources in Iran and the US government, Nadarkhani reportedly was orally informed that he has received the death penalty for apostasy. The Iranian pastor, however, has not yet received a formal verdict on his execution.

According to Present Truth Ministries, which assists the persecuted Church, the execution of Nadarkhani has been delayed. Present Truth Ministries reported last Saturday that Nadarkhani was originally scheduled to be executed on October 24.

“He is currently under a sentence of death, but they are delaying the delivery of the verdict in order to put more pressure on him to turn away from Christ,” reported Jason DeMars of Present Truth Ministries.

“Once the written verdict is delivered, there will be 20 days to appeal to the Supreme Court,” DeMars added in his ministry’s website.

Nadarkhani is believed to have been pressured over the past year to recant his faith and return to Islam.

According to Voice of the Martyrs, if a death sentence is officially handed down and Nadarkhani is executed, his would be the first judicial execution of a Christian in Iran in two decades.

Over the past year, government crackdown on religious minorities has intensified. Several churches in Iran were shut down and a number of converts from Muslim background were arrested and detained. In Iran, it is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity, although Christians are allowed to convert to Islam.

Rights groups have suggested that the crackdown against non-Muslim religious minorities is likely related to the disputed June 2009 elections. After last year’s election, government forces have cracked down on various citizen groups.

“This pattern of arrest and harassment of religious minorities, coupled with increasing inflammatory rhetoric from President Ahmadinejad and other leaders has not been seen since in the early years of the Iranian revolution,” Leo remarked.

USCIRF has urged the Obama administration to continue to speak out, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did in August, for Iran’s religious minorities.

Copyright © 2010 Christian Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior permission.

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/obama-urged-to-come-to-aid-of-pastor-facing-execution-in-iran/5762-2.htm

Christian Pastor 'Has Less than a Week to Live'... Christian Pastor in Iran Faces Death Penalty in One Week for ’Thought Crime.’

Believers in the West Urged to Inform Friendly Governments of Pastor’s Impending Death Sentence

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- A Christian pastor in Iran who was sentenced to death for what is being called a "thought crime" has less than a week to live.

Pastor Youcef and 'Sister Tina' Nadarkhani(Courtesy Present Truth Ministries).

Advocates for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani told ASSIST News that while all of the other prisoners arrested in a wide-ranging crackdown by Iranian authorities have been released, Nadarkhani still faces the death penalty on October 24.

Present Truth Ministries (www.presenttruthmn.com ) says all detained recently by the Iranian Government, except for Youcef and one other pastor who is awaiting one more judge to pass the death sentence, are now free from prison.

The ministry says Youcef only has one more week before his sentence is due to be carried out. Sunday, October 24 is the date of his impending execution. However, the ministry did have good news to share about Youcef's wife, known affectionately as "Sister Tina."

Writing on the ministry webblog, Jason DeMars says: "We have received news that Monday, October 11, Fatemeh Pasandideh (Youcef Nadarkhani's wife) has been released! A second trial was held and she was acquitted and released and is now home with her two children! What a wonderful thing to be thankful for on Thanksgiving!! (in Canada)."

DeMars had just received a report that Fatemeh Pasandideh (Sister Tina), the wife of pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was released as of early last week.

DeMars writes: "Previously, she had been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 'thought crime' of converting to Christianity."

He continued: "The attorney that was hired appealed the verdict and a new trial was held. She was acquitted of the crime and released. She has now been reunited with her two boys. Give thanks to God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his grace and mercy in answering our prayers and allowing sister Tina to be released."

DeMars asks Chrstians in the West to continue to pray for Sister Tina's husband, Youcef Nadarkhani and to approach government authorities to lobby for Youcef's acquittal and release.

"He is still in prison and has been sentenced to death. We have a week to spread the word to others to pray and to inform government officials of the violation of his human rights."

DeMars said Nadarkhani was convicted of converting to Christianity and bringing others to faith in Christ.

DeMars added: "Pray also for pastor Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani, who is being held in prison in Shiraz, Iran and has been given limited contact with his family and his attorney.

"It is reported that he is being held in the area of the prison that holds HIV and Hepatitis patients and that he is quite ill. He will not talk about it to those with whom he speaks, however, he barely has a voice. Please pray for them and ask God to deliver them from the hands of their enemies."

According to webblogs following the case, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, responsible for one of the largest Protestant communities in Iran, "has been" sentenced to death for apostasy Saturday, October 2 by the 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan.

This information was given to his lawyer Nasser Sarbaz. It was communicated to him verbally, news sources said.

Pastor Youcef was transferred after the verdict from Lakan prison to another place of detention, which is under the direction of the Political Police of The Islamic Republic.

Pastor Youcef was arrested in October 2009 for protesting against a decision of the Corporation to impose Koranic teaching to his son.

Iran adheres, at least officially, to the Charter of Human Rights and the Iranian Constitution recognizes the right to religious freedom and according to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad there is no thought crimes law in Iran.

There is a petition to the Iranian Government in several languageswww.petitiononline.com/IRANPET/petition.html  to have Youcef released.

The petition asks Iranian Presidemt Ahmadinejad to release Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, Fatemeh Pasandideh, Fatemeh Kojouri Tork ( the wife of Pastor Behrouz), Mehdi and Mina Kerbalayi and their mother, Nahid, Brother Afshin, Sister Mahsa, brother mid, Sister Nasrin, Pastor Behnam Irani, Pastor Behrouz Sadegh immediately, without charges.

Concerned believers are being asked to contact the German government and human rights associations to let them know about this problem.

Www.worthynews.com  reports Pastor Youcef faces execution after two judges agreed to make him "liable to capital punishment," as part of a crackdown on the growing Protestant church movement in the Islamic nation.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was detained in June along with wife Fatemeh Pasandideh in the city of Rasht in northwestern Iran because of their Christian activities, Iranian Christians said.

A senior pastor of the Church of Iran movement, which includes house churches across the country, told Worthy News that judges had "already signed" an Islamic order that would potentially allow a death sentence for Nadarkhani, pending further investigations. The pastor usually speaks on condition of anonymity amid security concerns.

News of the execution overshadowed joy over the release of two Church of Iran Christians, a man and a woman, and the expected release this week on bail of two other members, who the movement only identified as "brothers Mehdi and Afshin."

MORE DETENTIONS

Worthynews.com reports they were part of a group of eight Church of Iran members detained June 18, according to the senior pastor. One of them, a pastor's wife identified as Fatemeh Kojouri Tork, remained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison Tuesday, July 13, while her husband, Behrouz Sadegh Khanjani, was kept in isolation in a security prison in the southwestern city of Shiraz, the Christian leader said.

"We still do not hear from Reverend Behrouz Khanjani..." Iranian Christians have also expressed concerns about reports of other detentions, including last month's capture of Pastor Behnam Irani in the city of Karaj, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) west of Tehran.

Several believers have allegedly been mistreated, sources said.

"We have learned that information that [security forces] have been using substances to extract confessions from Christians," the senior pastor said.

Iranian officials have not commented on the cases, the sources stated.

AUTHORITIES CONCERNED

Wortheynews.com also says religious rights groups have linked the crackdown to concern among authorities about growing churches and the spread of Christianity among Muslims in the country.

Church sources say the number of Christians in Iran has grown from 500 known believers in 1979 to at least 100,000 today.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly said the government needed to halt the growing movement of house churches across Iran.

Under Iran's strict interpretation of Islam, "apostasy" -- or the formal renunciation of religion -- is punishable by death.

One Christian persecution watchdog reports that over the last decade, the Iranian church has grown significantly and estimates now say the total number of Christians in Iran to be about 450,000.

The group said the government has intentionally sought to stop this growth and make it impossible for Christians to practice their religion.

Although churches connected to minority groups, such as Armenians and Assyrians, are allowed to teach their own people in their own language, it is forbidden to minister to people with a Muslim background (speaking Farsi).

Please pray:

1. Remember believers such as Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, Fatemeh Kojouri Tork, Behrouz Sadegh Khanjani and Pastor Behnam who are in prison because of their faith. Ask God to strengthen them physically, emotionally and spiritually, so that they will be a 'light in the darkness.'

2. Thank God that despite the horrendous circumstances for Christians in Iran and the opposition they face from the government, the church is growing.

3. Pray for the house church movement, which is responsible for much of the growth of the church. Ask God to protect its leaders and give them wisdom and understanding.

The death sentence imposed on Pastor Youcef is expected to be carried out by October 24.

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