"President Goodluck Jonathan’s commiseration visit to relatives on Oct. 15, two weeks after the murder of about 40 students from three higher education institutions in Mubi, in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria, has failed to elucidate further the motive behind the deaths. What has become clear, however, is that the perpetrators did single out many Christians by name. At least one Christian female present was spared, as were Muslims who could quote Islamic verses; other Muslims, who could not, were also killed.
According to Mubi church leaders, a total of at least 30 people, mostly students, were killed and at least four injured in the main attack, with many others also killed close by.
Fully armed attackers invaded the Tudun Wada Wuro Patuje area at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 1, firing shots into the air. Nigerian military sources say they tried to repel them for at least an hour, but attackers still made their way to the off-campus hostels of the Federal Polytechnic State University, College of Health Technology and several private residencies of Christians.
Just before midnight, the attackers called students out of their rooms and asked them for their names. Those with Christian names were shot dead or killed with knives. The bodies were left in lines outside the buildings. Students with traditionally Muslim names were told to quote Islamic scripture. “If you succeeded, you were let go,” a survivor told our reporter who rushed to Mubi Hospital.
“I was asked to say my name to which I replied that I am a Christian and that my name is Elkanah,” said student Elkanah Sardauna. “They threw me to the ground, and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ I cried out to Jesus, face to the ground. They demanded that I stop calling on Jesus, but I persisted. The next moment I was shot in the hand, and then slashed with a knife at the back of my neck. They must have thought I was dead because they left.”
Elkanah told our reporter from his hospital bed: “It was only God who saved me when they came to our room. We were four sharing the room and all of us had Christian names. My three roommates were killed before my eyes. They got to me last.”
Manasseh, a student who survived a gunshot and severe knife injuries, shared his ordeal.
“They asked me to recant my Christian faith to spare my life. I refused. After my Muslim roommate quoted some Islamic scripture, he was told to leave the room. They said they were only after these ‘infidels’ who would all die that day. Then they shot me and slashed my back. This is really a picture of the great hatred for us Christians in the region.”
Nigerian Christian leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the protection the government had seemed able to provide. Gideon Para-Mallam, Regional Secretary of the International Federation of Evangelical Students based in Jos, Plateau State, told Open Doors News that these deaths were not only tragic: "They are killing the flower of our youth, and the future of this nation."
Various motives have been linked with this attack, which came on Nigeria’s Independence Day and two days after student union government elections at Mubi’s Federal Polytechnic.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Mubi reported that prior to the attack, jihadists had circulated letters to some in the area, giving believers an ultimatum to either recant their Christian faith within two weeks or suffer fatal consequences. According to one Christian, who showed our reporter such a letter, they were warned not to disclose the threat to anyone as any leakage of the information would result in death.
CAN handed the letters over to security officials in the Adamawa state capital, Yola, prompting searches which resulted in the arms cache finds." ReligionToday
According to Mubi church leaders, a total of at least 30 people, mostly students, were killed and at least four injured in the main attack, with many others also killed close by.
Fully armed attackers invaded the Tudun Wada Wuro Patuje area at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 1, firing shots into the air. Nigerian military sources say they tried to repel them for at least an hour, but attackers still made their way to the off-campus hostels of the Federal Polytechnic State University, College of Health Technology and several private residencies of Christians. Just before midnight, the attackers called students out of their rooms and asked them for their names. Those with Christian names were shot dead or killed with knives. The bodies were left in lines outside the buildings. Students with traditionally Muslim names were told to quote Islamic scripture. “If you succeeded, you were let go,” a survivor told our reporter who rushed to Mubi Hospital.
“I was asked to say my name to which I replied that I am a Christian and that my name is Elkanah,” said student Elkanah Sardauna. “They threw me to the ground, and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ I cried out to Jesus, face to the ground. They demanded that I stop calling on Jesus, but I persisted. The next moment I was shot in the hand, and then slashed with a knife at the back of my neck. They must have thought I was dead because they left.”
Elkanah told our reporter from his hospital bed: “It was only God who saved me when they came to our room. We were four sharing the room and all of us had Christian names. My three roommates were killed before my eyes. They got to me last.”
Manasseh, a student who survived a gunshot and severe knife injuries, shared his ordeal.
“They asked me to recant my Christian faith to spare my life. I refused. After my Muslim roommate quoted some Islamic scripture, he was told to leave the room. They said they were only after these ‘infidels’ who would all die that day. Then they shot me and slashed my back. This is really a picture of the great hatred for us Christians in the region.”
Nigerian Christian leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the protection the government had seemed able to provide. Gideon Para-Mallam, Regional Secretary of the International Federation of Evangelical Students based in Jos, Plateau State, told Open Doors News that these deaths were not only tragic: "They are killing the flower of our youth, and the future of this nation."
Various motives have been linked with this attack, which came on Nigeria’s Independence Day and two days after student union government elections at Mubi’s Federal Polytechnic.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Mubi reported that prior to the attack, jihadists had circulated letters to some in the area, giving believers an ultimatum to either recant their Christian faith within two weeks or suffer fatal consequences. According to one Christian, who showed our reporter such a letter, they were warned not to disclose the threat to anyone as any leakage of the information would result in death.
CAN handed the letters over to security officials in the Adamawa state capital, Yola, prompting searches which resulted in the arms cache finds." ReligionToday
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
1 Peter 3:11
