What will it take to stop the continuing rampage-massacres carried out by the fundamentalist Muslim Boko Haram in Nigeria? They seem to simply strike at will - timing their killings on important Christian holidays - and apparently, the Nigerian government is unable to do anything about it. Recent events are hardly a good omen for the coming year... Of course, we pray for an end to hatred that takes the form of killing others, but let us also pray that we may understand the will of God through all the senseless violence that seems to be on the rise everywhere...
Militants slit throats
of 15 Christians in Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria, Dec. 31 (AP) - Gunmen suspected to belong to a radical Islamist sect attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, tying up men, women and children before slitting their throats, killing at least 15 in the troubled region's latest attack, witnesses said on Saturday.
The assault happened early on Friday morning in the village of Musari on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram first launched its guerrilla campaign of shootings and car bombings against Nigeria's weak central government.
The gunmen shouted religious slogans and later ordered those there to be gathered up into a group, said Mshelia Inusa, a primary school teacher in the village.
"We heard some people chanting, 'God is great, God is great' amid sounds of banging on doors of houses at about 1 a.m.," the teacher said. "A voice was heard ordering people to be slaughtered and also voices of children were heard screaming."
CNN International has an updated wrap-up:
22 Christians killed in
three attacks in Nigeria
By Nana Karikari-apau
December 31, 2012
At least 22 people have been killed in three separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria since Friday, including 15 Christians shot Sunday inside a church, according to officials.
The violence began early Friday when unidentified gunmen raided a village in Musari, in Borno state, killing five people, said Joint Task Force Lt. Col. Sagir Musa. JTF troops responded, and a gunbattle ensued. Three of the attackers were killed, and troops recovered weapons and ammunition. Musa declined to provide further details of the attack.
Also Friday, gunmen with suspected ties to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed two people and wounded another in an attack in Maiha, in Adamawa state, according to Godfrey Okeke, Adamawa state commissioner. The attackers freed 35 inmates from the Maiha prison and set government buildings on fire, Okeke said.
In Sunday's attack, gunmen entered a church in Chibok, also in Borno state, and killed at least 15 worshipers, said Mohammed Kana, a regional official for the National Emergency Management Agency.
"Some of the people had their throats slit," Kana said, citing NEMA staff who responded to the scene.
Sunday's violence comes six days after attackers raided two churches during Christmas Eve services, killing 12 people.
In October, a report from Human Rights Watch addressed the violence plaguing northern Nigeria, particularly from Boko Haram. The group's name means "Western education is forbidden." It seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law in the Muslim-dominated northern part of the country.
"Suspected members of the group have bombed or opened fire on worshipers in at least 18 churches across eight northern and central states since 2010. In Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, the group also forced Christian men to convert to Islam on penalty of death," it said.
The honor roll of Church workers
who gave their lives in 2012
VATICAN CITY, Dec. 29 = Once again this year, Fides publishes an annual document of all the pastoral workers who lost their lives in a violent manner over the course of the last 12 months.
According to information in our possession, during 2012, 12 pastoral care workers were killed, almost all priests: 10 priests, 1 religious sister, 1 lay person.
For the fourth consecutive year, the place most affected, with the most number of pastoral workers killed is AMERICA, where six priests were killed; followed by AFRICA, where 3 priests and 1 religious sister were killed; then ASIA, where 1 priest and 1 religious sister were killed.
Details of the individual stories of these defenders of the faith may be found on
www.fides.org/eng/documents/missionaries_killed_2012.doc
Fides data show that in the decade from 1980-1989, 115 missionaries lost their lives in violent manner, but the number only includes those whose deaths made news.
The collective summary from 1990-2000 presents a total of 604 missionaries killed, according to mission data. The number is significantly higher than the previous decade, but the period includes the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where at least 248 Church workers lost their lives. Also contributing to the higher numbers is the increased speed of the mass media in disseminating the news even from most remote places.
The total represents not only the missionaries ad gentes in the strictest sense, but all church personnel killed in a violent manner, or who sacrificed their lives aware of the risks they ran, while not abandoning the people in their care.
During the years 2001-2011, 281 Church workers were killed in the performance of their jobs.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/01/2013 07:50]