The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has announced the killing of its Chairman in Michika Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Reverend Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram insurgents, Premium Times has reported.<\/p>\n
Andimi was abducted by the insurgents January 2 when the insurgents invaded Michika.<\/p>\n
He\u00a0hailed from Kwada village in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno but was pastoring in Michika where he was abducted.<\/p>\n
CAN chairman in Adamawa State, Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza said Andimi was killed on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince yesterday when we heard that Boko Haram killed Rev. Lawan Andimi we were all thrown into shock and agony.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019He was one of our\u00a0great leaders in northern Adamawa zone, because at some point, the insurgents reached out for negotiations, and the church was still trying to see how they can get on with the terms.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019Three days after his abduction, the insurgents have reached to his family and leaders of EYN for negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019They demanded the huge sum of \u00a32 million as ransoms.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2019In fact, on Sunday, we thought certain agreements were reached and achieved only to now hear and confirmed his execution and may his gentle soul rest in perfect peace!<\/p>\n
He said out of the \u00a32 million demanded by Boko Haram as ransom, only N50 million could be raised but the insurgents rejected it.<\/p>\n
Mamza said negotiations were still going on when Andimi was beheaded.<\/p>\n
\u201cPastor Lawan was beheaded yesterday. Negations were still ongoing when they stopped calling. They were offered N50 million but they rejected it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mamza said the insurgents called Andimi\u2019s wife last week to tell her they would kill her husband on Saturday but that somehow they waited till Monday.<\/p>\n
The CAN chairman regretted that Christians are increasingly becoming victims of wanton killings.<\/p>\n
He said Pastor Dennis Bagauri of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) was killed in Jereng, Mayo-Belwa area of Adamawa State.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIt is now clear that Christians are not protected by the government. We don\u2019t feel like we have a government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamza called on President Muhammadu Buhari to, in the spirit of humanity, work for the release of all the people in Boko Haram\u2019s captivity.<\/p>\n
He said, \u2018\u2019There are still hundreds in their hands and only God knows when will they regain their freedom. For God and humanity sake we want Nigeria\u2019s government to urgently do something.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Andimi, had in a video clip released recently by the insurgents, appealed to the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, to help rescue him.<\/p>\n
He was heard in the video saying \u201cI have never been discouraged because all conditions that one finds himself \u2026is in the hand of God. God who made them to take care of me. So, the summary of my speech; I am appealing to my colleagues, reverends, particularly my president, Reverend Joel Billy who is a strong man, a man of compassion and man of love. He can do all his best to speak to our governor, Umaru Jibrilla (Fintiri) and other necessary agents for my release here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further asked his family not to \u201csorrow for him, since God\u2019s will must be respected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reacting, the Governor Fintiri described Andimi\u2019s killing as barbaric.<\/p>\n
In a statement by his Director General of Media and Communication, Solomon Kumanga, Fintiri expressed deep sadness by the \u201cgruesome execution\u201d of the clergyman.<\/p>\n
Also reacting, Amnesty International (AI) condemned the killing, adding that crimes committed by the insurgent must not go unpunished.<\/p>\n
Director of AI in Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, urged the government to rescue all those in Boko Haram\u2019s captivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince December last year, Boko Haram has been escalating attacks on civilians, commuters, infrastructure and humanitarian facilities across northeast,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmnesty International is appalled by reports that Reverend Lawan Andimi, the chairman of a local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), was killed by Boko Haram yesterday,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this horrific murder and an increasing number of attacks in recent weeks, Boko Haram has again shown its brazen disregard for the sanctity of life. These deplorable crimes must not go unpunished.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is appalling that Boko Haram followed up the killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi on Monday with an attack on his village \u2013 in Chibok local government Borno state. Targeting civilians is a crime under international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoko Haram must immediately stop its attacks on civilians. All those responsible for war crimes and other human rights violations and abuses in Nigeria must be brought to justice in a fair trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigerian authorities must re-double their efforts to rescue the hundreds of civilians still detained by Boko Haram.\u201d<\/p>\n
A U.S. based watchdog, Open Doors USA, had in a report released on January 15, rated Nigeria 12th<\/sup>\u00a0among\u00a050 nations of the world where it is difficult to practice Christianity due to persecution.<\/p>\n Nigeria was rated 5th<\/sup>\u00a0among the African countries where Christians are most persecuted, coming behind Somalia, Libya, Eritrea and Sudan.<\/p>\n Other Africa countries listed are Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Central Africa Republic, Morocco, Burkina Faso and Mali. Tunisia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon and Niger also made the list.<\/p>\n Chief Executive Officer of Open Doors, David Curry, who released the 2020 World Watch List, said Nigeria remained the most violent country in the world where Christianity is practised as far as Open Doors data can track.<\/p>\n He said, \u201cThe difference this year is primarily because, in Nigeria, Boko Haram has changed tactics. They have gone from assassination and these kinds of things to roadside assaults on Christians and Kidnappings. So we have seen a jump in those kinds of things. But Boko Haram is also spreading its wings into Cameroon and into Chad but also into Burkina Faso.\u201d<\/p>\n Curry said the Fulanis were perpetrating violence in farming communities in Nigeria, especially with a view to pushing Christians from those communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is wrong to look at (Fulani) as simply having territorial issues. They have an ideology that is historically being radicalised and they have an agenda to push Christians out of these communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cover story that somehow these are their ancient lands and so forth doesn\u2019t justify unlawful behaviour against Christians who live there.\u201d<\/p>\n Curry added, \u201cThe greatest tragedy of Nigeria\u2019s ineffectual response to Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen is now parts of Cameroon and those other areas like Burkina Faso are greatly affected.\u201d<\/p>\n Media reports had quoted a rights group sometimes ago as saying that no fewer than 1,000 Christians in Nigeria were slaughtered by the Fulani herdsmen or Boko Haram militants in 2019 and over 6,000 were killed since 2015.<\/p>\n On December 24, 2019, a faction of Boko Haram affiliated to the Islamic State, killed 11 Christian captives in Borno State.<\/p>\n The group said the action was taken to avenge the deaths of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the late IS leader, and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir, its spokesman, who were killed in Syria in October.<\/p>\n Similarly, four abducted aid workers of the Action Against Hunger, an international non-government organisation, were also killed by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) in December.<\/p>\n The insurgents claimed that the aid workers were killed because of the breakdown of talks with the federal government.<\/p>\n Five aid workers who were kidnapped in December were lucky as they were released from captivity by the insurgents.<\/p>\n One of them,\u00a0Jennifer Samuel, while speaking with journalists, said she met another abductee, Alice, who told her that Leah Sharibu was alive.<\/p>\n Leah\u00a0was abducted alongside 109 other girls from their secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018.<\/p>\n While most of the girls were released, Leah was denied freedom after refusing to renounce her Christian faith for Islam.<\/p>\n She said, \u201cI actually met Alice that was abducted two years ago. All of them need our prayers earnestly. We need to stand and pray for them; it is only God that can do it.<\/p>\n \u201cAlice is okay but she said she has accepted her fate since she has stayed there for two years and she said Grace and Leah are fine. I didn\u2019t see Leah but Alice said she is okay. I only saw Alice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has announced the killing of its Chairman in Michika Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Reverend Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram insurgents, Premium Times has reported. Andimi was abducted by the insurgents January 2 when the insurgents invaded Michika. He\u00a0hailed from Kwada village in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"0","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=563"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":568,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions\/568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}