NINGI, Nigeria — Islamists under the auspices of a paramilitary force destroyed six churches to protest a police rescue of two teenage Christian girls kidnapped by Muslims in Ningi, a town in Bauchi state, Nigeria.
Police recovered the two Christian girls, Mary Chikwodi Okoye, 15, and Uche Edward, 14, May 12 after Muslims in Ningi kidnapped them three weeks ago in an attempt to expand Islam by marrying them to Muslim men.
Police took the two girls, who had been under foster care, to safety in southeastern Nigeria where their biological parents live. The kidnappers had taken the girls to Wudil town in Kano state.
Following the rescue of the girls, Muslims under the Hisbah Command, a paramilitary arm of Kano state’s Sharia Commission, went on a rampage May 13, attacking Christians and setting fire to the churches.
Joseph Abdu, pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church, said that damages to his church property amounted to about 13 million naira ($112,857) — and that his congregation had shrunk to 40 people from the 130 who attended before the attack. Muslims have kidnapped at least 13 Christian girls in the town, Christian sources said.
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