I just checked ... Boko Haram is still trash

 Islamic terror group Boko Haram recently shared on social media a video of Pastor Paul Musa pleading for his life as an armed, masked Islamic extremist stands behind him.

Boko Haram abducted the 59-year-old pastor and his wife, Ruth, 50, in March 2023 from their home in Borno state. In the video, the pastor is wearing orange clothing, reminiscent of the orange jumpsuits worn by the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians that the Islamic State group beheaded on a beach in Libya in 2015.

According to an International Christian Concern (ICC) source in Nigeria, Boko Haram reportedly demanded the pastor’s family pay two hundred million Nigerian Naira, or roughly $130,000, by Monday, or Pastor Musa would be killed.

Since 2009, Islamic extremists such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), Islamic Fulani militants, and unidentified gunmen have killed an estimated 45,000 Christians. Earlier this month, members of ISWAP executed three Christians in Borno state. These groups also continue to kidnap pastors and priests and hold them for ransom.

For years, and again this year, the ongoing attacks, kidnappings, and executions of Christians have prompted the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to recommend that the U.S. Department of State designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). This year’s report also called for Boko Haram and ISWAP to be designated Entities of Particular Concern (EPC).

Michael Kurams, executive director of Living Streams of Hope and Peace Foundation, told an ICC staffer that there must be a more robust international response to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“There is an urgent need for diplomatic pressure on the Nigerian government to prioritize the safety and rights of its Christian citizens,” he told ICC. “Additionally, providing support to local and international organizations working on the ground can help offer some measure of protection and assistance to those in need.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Mob of 66 not charged for killing elderly man

 Two weeks after Nazir Masih succumbed to injuries he sustained during a brutal mob attack on May 25, an International Christian Concern (ICC) source in Pakistan has learned that 66 of the arrested assailants have been released on bail.

The mob of angry Muslims had attacked Masih, who was in his 70s, after claims that he had burned pages from a Quran circulated throughout his community in Sargodha. The mob also looted and burned a shoe shop owned by Masih’s son, Sultan Masih, and burned the family’s home, where Nazir, his two sons, and ten other family members live.

The quick-bail release of suspects following a mob attack incited by false blasphemy allegations is an increasingly common trend in the predominantly Muslim country. Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws are often weaponized against Christians, who are at constant risk of being falsely accused of blaspheming Muhammad or the Quran. Those charged with blasphemy rarely go unpunished.

“There is no justice for Christians in Pakistan,” an ICC staffer said. “Nazir is just the most recent instance of Christians being treated as less than human. These attacks follow a pattern: a mob is riled by radicals, they attack innocent Christians for allegedly committing blasphemy, the police arrive too late, and ultimately release the offenders who then seek vengeance on those who are left.”

Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) also recently raised concerns about the quickly posted bails for the attackers in a new report, wondering if such a trend exists to encourage more similar attacks. HRFP highlighted similarities between the deadly attack on Masih on May 25 in Sargodha and the Jaranwala attack on August 16, 2023.

“A same format has been seen in practice in both incidents and many other blasphemy cases, from the use of Quranic papers, provoking people, mob attacks, burning homes and properties, and after all that, the attackers easily get bail and released within few days,” their statement said. “HRFP demands strict actions following intelligence reports that have exposed the same people from same extremist groups have accused multiple innocents.”

HRFP stated in a press release that the police department’s investigation of the Sargodha attack has been “discouraging.” First Information Reports (FIR) were filed against 44 identified and 400 unidentified suspects for “murder, attempt to murder, obstructing public officials in discharging their duty, assaulting a public official and mischief by fire or explosive material with intent to destroy a house or cause death or hurt,” but so far no sign of justice being carried out.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of assistance, advocacy, and awareness. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.