Nigerian pastor appeals for release from Islamic terrorists
A church pastor in Nigeria who went missing on the 19th of October has been taken captive along with two Christian women by militants of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), according to a video released by the terrorist group. In the video clip uploaded on YouTube, the Rev. Polycarp Zongo of the Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) says the militants captured him and the women as they travelled from Jos, Plateau State to the City of Gombe in the state of the same name.
On the 20th of January, Boko Haram terrorists executed the Rev. Lawan Andawi, District Chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) in Michika County, Adamawa State, and father of eight children.
On the 22nd of July, Islamic extremists released a video showing them executing five Nigerian men, with one executioner saying it was a warning to “all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity.” Three of the men shot to death from behind on the video were identified as Christians by a resident of Borno State, where the executions apparently took place.
As a part of its strategy of attacking Christians in Nigeria, Islamic terrorists from both ISWAP and Boko Haram mount roadblocks on major highways in the northeast, stopping vehicles to take Christians into captivity.
They use some of the captured Christians for negotiations with the Nigerian government to get more funds for their arms and operations. In cases when such negotiations fail, the male Christian victims are often executed, and the women are held as sex slaves.
Source: christianheadlines.com
