Christian Leader in Kano State Dead Following Mob Attack

On 23^rd September the chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria was killed by a mob attack on his home in Massu village.

Rev Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church was killed after tensions in the area rose due to a separate incident in which members of the local Muslim community believed a man suspected of a violent attack had recently converted to Chrisianity.

Despite being warned to leave the area, Rev Shuaibu had stayed to help evacuate pupils from a school constructed for indigenous Hausa Christian children, and for which he had been instrumental in raising funds.

Unfortunately, a mob attacked his home that night. While his wife was able to escape with their children under cover of the darkness, Rev Shuaibu suffered multiple machete blows. The mob went on to burn down the Shuaibus’ home, the church and the school.

Rev Shuaibu was a popular and inspirational figure. Not only was he instrumental in securing funds for the school for local children; he also oversaw the raising of funds for boreholes for Christian communities who were denied access to government-provided water sources. Under his tenure, a faulty water source at the local mosque was refurbished by the Christian community in an effort to foster peace and unity.

Kano state has been a particular flashpoint of inter and intra-religious tensions where members of the majority religious community face no consequences for dispensing mob justice on an unfounded basis. The murder of Rev Shuaibu is another example of the continuing rise of religiously motivated violence in the northern and Middle Belt states of Nigeria.

Find out more about HART’s work with communities suffering religiously motivated violence in Nigeria: https://bit.ly/2NLuIw4