Violence in Nigeria

Audio: The Church Affected

Posted on April 12, 2010

Transcript of audio interview with Rev. Samuel Oni* in Jos, Nigeria

“It actually affected the church on the plateau. The plateau has really been affected. We have three churches in the ‘hot’ area where the Muslims are dominated of the Baptists that have to really look at it. The churches were burned. This is the third time where all three crisis in Jos. In every crisis the church is burned down. They build, it burned down, they build, it burns down.

“So, the advice from the convention now is the church should be relocated to another place. And as I’ve talked with the pastors, the churches, the Christians are scattered. They are not together again. So, they have like three different places where the Christians for that church meet in people’s houses just to pray, to see how they can still remain intact. They’re wondering how to relocate. So, three churches have been affected, that they must pack out from that area because they have suffered a lot of loss.

“The good thing is we didn’t have so many loss of life for the Baptists. I think, in all, for all this crisis, I don’t think they are up to five deaths that were recorded for Baptists. I don’t know for other churches.

“Then in Bukuru area, churches were really affected. What happens that many members lost their houses. They run for their lives and the whole thing was burned down after looting. They’re some, about more than half of the church, lost their houses and their business premises.

“And many Christians that are from Yoruba land have traveled back home. Finally, never to come back. Because they don’t have a house, they don’t have a business. So, what is the need staying back in Jos?

“It is a trying moment for the church because many people are tempted to be discouraged. Like I said, last year a woman was asking, saying, “Where was God, when my house burned and three children were killed? And I saw them enter the house and I saw the house on fire. And I knew that the three of them were burned in the house. So, where was God? What was He doing?”

“Every, everybody is buying ammunitions. Churches that had ammunitions, they claim that it helped them. Churches were not burned because they had ammunitions. They shot in the air and the people doing the burning ran away because they suspected that this people were armed. So, they never burned their churches. I know of about 3-4 churches that are located right inside Muslims. They were not burned this time. Because, when the people came around, they heard gunshots from the church so they didn’t go close by. So, many are resorting to do that.

“Now, we thank God for the response of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. They have come in with a lot of help. Other conferences have brought money, they have brought food items, clothing, drugs, in order to see how they can relieve, help the people that have been scattered. We appreciate God for that. Even the churches, local churches, those that were not affected, they are finding a way to see how they can also support those that were affected. We are praying seriously that such a thing doesn’t happen again.

“That is the situation that we have in Jos. So, we need a lot of prayers.”

*Name changed for security reasons