Tragic: Christian pastor in Nigeria hacked to death by angry Muslims
Christian, Nigerian pastor Rev. Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church, was hacked to death by an angry Christian mob on Sept. 23, 2021. EEW
Article By T.C. Clark // Global News // EEW Magazine Online
A Nigerian pastor whose ministry converted many Muslims to Christianity was tragically murdered by an angry Muslim mob.
Rev. Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church in Kano state’s Massu village, Sumaila, passed away in the early hours of Sept. 23, the night after he was attacked. The loyal follower of Christ and leader was an innocent casualty in an unrelated dispute.
Here’s what occurred.
An unnamed man—that the Muslim attackers believe had converted to Christianity—killed a Muslim woman. In retaliation, a group of Muslims who indirectly blamed Rev. Shuaibu simply because the leader was known for proselytizing Muslims in the area, hacked him to death with machetes, burned down his home, church, and school, reports Morning Star News.
“The Muslims felt the young man who killed the woman in a fight is a Christian, and they likely targeted the pastor for attack because it was through the ministry of Pastor Shuaibu that many Muslims were converted to the Christian faith,” explained Hosle Tongnan Michael, a friend and colleague of Pastor Shuaibu.
The evening before the fateful incident, the pastor, who knew his life was in danger, took refuge in neighboring Biri village and even evacuated students from his school as a protective and precautionary measure. “However, the Muslims gathered their mob and descended on him, cut him badly with machetes and burned down his house, the church and the school,” said Michael.
Pastor Shuaibu sadly leaves behind a wife and children who, thankfully, were able to flee to safety under the cover of darkness.
When Christians in nearby villages heard of the assault, they quickly phoned police who transported the victim to a local hospital. But it was too late. Shuaibu was pronounced dead.
Tensions first began escalating after a young man who had reportedly abandoned Islam, turned himself in to police for killing a Muslim woman, who happened to be his brother’s wife, during an argument on Sept. 21, Michael said.
“We know that at this kind of time, it is an immeasurable risk to be a Christian, especially in the northern part of Nigeria,” Michael said. “Anyone serving Christ can’t be sure of being alive the following day in northern Nigeria.”
Pastor Shuaibu, who also served as chairman of the local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), helped build a school for indigenous Hausa Christian children who were cut off from receiving education and other life-saving resources because of their faith.
“Under Shuaibu’s watch, we were able to raise funds and drill boreholes from which Christian communities that were denied access to government sources of water could access water,” he added. “At one point one of the sources of water at the mosque was refurbished by us as our support to the Muslim community which we believed would foster peace and avert some of the obvious threats against the peaceful Christian brethren.”
But that fragile peace alliance was violently broken.
“This is the story of the life of a Christian soldier, the ambassador of the Lord, who was hunted and gruesomely killed at his duty post, and his wrong was that he was a servant of the Lord,” said Michael.
Abdullahi Haruna, spokesman for the Kano State Police Command, said in a statement that six persons had been arrested in connection with the killing of the pastor and of the Muslim woman.
Last year, Nigeria went on record as the country with the most Christians killed for their faith—3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List.
