Source: www.jubileecampaign.org
Date: February 5, 2020
After being kidnapped by Boko Haram militants and bravely making a video in which he expresses his faith and trust in God and his optimistic hope for release, our brother Pastor Lawan Andimi has been killed on January 20 in Michika Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Missing since January 3, in this heart-wrenching video he requests Nigerian government officials and his church peers to secure 2 million euros for his release, and states "I have never been discouraged, because all conditions that one finds himself is in the hands of God." In this video he goes on to explain that "these people have been doing good to me. They are filling me with all that I want to eat. They provide a nice place for me to sleep."
Unfortunately, those who embarked on fundraising campaigns for his release were unable to raise the requested ransom, and the next day Nigerian reporter Ahmed Salkida received a video of Pastor Andimi's beheading.
President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari released a statement regarding Pastor Andimi's horrific murder stating, "I am greatly saddened by the fact that the terrorists went on to kill him even while giving signals of a willingness to set him free..."
Three days after the devastating murder of Pastor Andimi, another Nigerian Christian was killed. 22-year-old Ropvil Daciya Dalep of Plateau State was abducted by the Islamic State West Africa Province, and a video released by the militant group shows an 8-year-old child soldier stating in Arabic and Hausa that "we are saying to Christians, we have not forgotten what you have done to our parents and ancestors and we are telling all Christians around the world, we have not forgotten and will not stop. We must avenge the bloodshed that has been done like this one..." Shortly after his speech, the child shot kneeling Ropvil Dalep, biology student of the University of Maiduguri.
Only a month prior to the deaths of Pastor Andimi and Ropvil Daciya Dalep, on December 26, a short video released by IS media showed the shooting of one Christian individual, after which ten other Christian men were beheaded by militants. These IS faction militants shared a similar message of revenge on the Christian community for the deaths of Sheikh Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US officials during a coordinated air strike in Syria.
And in September 2019, a video of the deaths of two Nigerian Christian men and aid workers, Lawrence Duna Dacighir and Godfrey Ali Shikagham by Boko Haram was released in which militants explain once again that they are determined to kill any and all Christians they come into contact with in revenge for "past religious conflicts in Nigeria," according to Morning Star News.
The increasing occurrence of these massacres of Nigerian Christians displays the threat of rising Islamic militancy and lack of government action. Nigeria has consistently ranked very highly in the Open Doors World Watch List, taking the designation as the 12th most dangerous nation for Christians in the World Watch List 2020. Moreover, Nigeria is considered a Country of Particular Concern regarding religious freedom by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and was placed on the Special Watch List by the State Department in December 2019.
We ask that you keep in your prayers the Nigerian Christian victims of attacks regarding their religious beliefs, as well as their families.
On March 10th, Jubilee Campaign will be hosting a side event on Nigeria during the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women, in New York. More information will be released soon about this event.