ILORIN, Nigeria — On Aug. 31, Muslim extremists set ablaze a Christ Apostolic Church building in the Baboko area of Ilorin, the capital of Nigeria’s Kwara state.
Pastor Samuel Ogowole said that area Muslims had complained that the church building was located near a mosque.
The church building was 500 meters from the Baboko mosque, but to appease the Muslim community the Kwara state government had offered church leaders $25,580 and ordered the congregation to relocate. Church leaders rejected the order, saying they had spent nearly seven times that much to construct the church building.
Pastor Ogowole said Muslims initially applied pressure on town planning authorities in 2005.
“This ultimately resulted in a relocation notice asking us to relocate the church out of the area in seven days,” he said.
“However, we objected to the relocation order. Our position was that relocating to another place would mean creating hardship for our members here, who would have to travel many kilometers in order to worship.”
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