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47 youngsters killed at Christian school in Nigeria, while Christians in Mubi forced to flee after Boko Haram renames it “City of Islam”

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47 youngsters killed at Christian school in Nigeria, while Christians in Mubi forced to flee after Boko Haram renames it “City of Islam”

Country/Region: Africa, Nigeria

A suicide bomb attack in a Christian secondary school in the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, north-eastern Nigeria, has killed at least 47 people on Monday (10 November) as the students gathered for morning assembly. Boko Haram is thought to be behind the blast, having carried out several attacks on schools giving a Western-style education. Translated from Hausa, Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden”, of which this latest school attack is a stark reminder.

The homes of Christians are often burned in attacks in north-eastern Nigeria
The homes of Christians are often burned in attacks in north-eastern Nigeria

In a separate incident, trapped residents from the predominantly Christian city of Mubi in Adamawa state report that Christians have been tortured and killed after the Islamist group Boko Haram took control of the town on 29 October. Churches have been burned down across the city, and the homes of many believers have also been torched. The group had renamed the city Madinatul Islam, meaning “City of Islam”. A report dated 13 November states that the Nigerian military have regained control of Mubi, although most of the residents who fled are still too afraid to return.

Mirroring developments in territory under the control of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, sharia law has been enforced in Mubi. (Ten Muslims who were accused of looting suffered public amputations, in line with sharia regulations.) The Islamist group was telling Christians in Mubi that they must leave, convert to Islam, or be killed. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 13,000 people have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, and although most have now returned to Nigeria, they have said that their destination is Yola, the capital city of Adamawa state.

A church leader who escaped the area reported that most of the killings were of Christians who could not or would not recite the shahada (the basic Islamic creed that Muslims say is enough for a person to convert to Islam). Others reported that Christians had been stoned to death.

Mubi was the second city to be renamed by Boko Haram, after Gwoza in neighbouring Borno State was changed to Darul Hikma, meaning “House of Wisdom”, in July this year. The changing of Mubi to Madinatul Islam was significant, directly reminding Muslims of the Saudi Arabian city of Medina, the second holiest site in Islam. It was in Medina that, Muslims believe, Muhammad established the first Islamic state after his journey there in AD 622. Islamists seek to replicate this original Islamic state.

It appears that there has been a change in strategy by the Islamist group from hit-and-run attacks to the capture of territory. Mubi is the second largest city in Adamawa state and it was set to become the headquarters of Boko Haram’s proposed caliphate. Bishop Dami Stephen Mamza of Yola Diocese asserted that the risk of attack had increased after the government announced a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram on 17 October; Boko Haram responded on 1 November by insisting that no agreement had been made.

Aware that Islamists would never allow themselves to be influenced by a Christian, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, appealed to Nigerian Muslims to help defeat Boko Haram: “You defeat an ideology with a superior ideology. Boko Haram will not listen to me. I want to make an appeal to our Muslim clerics and Muslim political leaders to come together and see how they can help us solve this problem”.

He also calls on the international community, NGOs, as well as Nigerian state and federal governments, saying “I wonder why the international community is not saying anything. Is this not a human rights violation? … We need help. Our people are dying. Come and help us”.

Appealing to all Nigerians, he states, “I believe as bad as the situation is, with God, all things are possible. I know that there is God. He will not forsake us. We have restrained our people so much and we will continue to restrain them. But I beg Nigerians not to let this continue. These are dangerous and serious times.”

On 14 November Boko Haram seized the city of Chibok in Borno state, although the Nigerian military was able to take it back on 16 November. In April this year, over 200 schoolgirls were abducted from the city, sparking international outrage. Since the attack, many people had left the city fearing that the Islamist group would return with further violence.

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