Nigerian police said they arrested dozens of Shia Muslim followers of an outlawed group at a religious procession in the nation’s capital with a spokesperson of the group claiming eight members were shot dead during the gathering.
Abuja police denied any casualties occurred when the group, marking the religious ritual of Arbaeen, was dispersed on Tuesday
Police said they intervened to stop members of the banned Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) as they had been causing “unnecessary hardship to motorists” along the Abuja-Kubwa expressway, adding that 57 people were arrested after IMN members attacked the police with petrol bombs and stones.
“The miscreants who were found in their numbers were promptly intercepted by the security operatives and dispersed to prevent them from causing further disruption of public order,” the police statement said.
However, Abdullahi Muhamed, an IMN member, told the Reuters news agency that participants were walking peacefully along the expressway when a team of police and soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition at them.
IMN spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said security forces shot and wounded protesters.
“We were almost rounding up the procession when the police and army came and started shooting,” he said.
The IMN, a pro-Iranian group that was outlawed in 2019 for protests against the arrest of their leader Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, has clashed with Nigerian security forces for years and often marches in Abuja.
The army killed 350 IMN Shia Muslims during a religious procession in northern Nigeria in December 2015. According to rights groups, many were gunned down and burned alive.
IMN leader el-Zakzaky and his wife, who have been in custody since 2015, were freed last month after a court acquitted them of murder charges involving the death of a soldier.
But the religious leader still faces terrorism and treasonable offences charges, according to prosecutors.
Muslims make up about half of Nigeria’s population of 200 million. The overwhelming majority of them are Sunni. The Shia Muslim minority have long complained of discrimination and repression.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Nigeria police arrest 57 in Shia procession, deny casualties
Friday, August 6, 2021
Home-brewers thrive in northern Nigeria despite trouble with religious police
In Nigeria's northern Kano state, Janet Peter stirs a thick and frothy brown liquid inside a large cast iron pot, worrying all the while that religious police will come and chase her from the restaurant where she operates.
Peter is among many local people carrying on the tradition of brewing "burukutu", a popular homemade beer with a vinegar-like flavour made with sorghum.
Brewers like her are a target for the Hisbah, the religious police who enforce Islamic sharia law that is in place in 12 northern states.
But Peter, and those who consume burukutu, say it is healthy, natural and part of local tradition. Thick and heavy, burukutu is widely consumed as food in rural parts of the north.
"I grew up watching my mother and members of my family do the formulation back in my village," Peter told Reuters in the Hausa language. "I moved to town and could not find a job and I decided to start making this."
A four-litre bucket costs 500 naira ($1.22) - far cheaper than commercially brewed beer - and the 48-year-old mother of two sells between 40 to 80 litres a day.
Brewing - from sorting the sorghum to washing, fermenting, blending and cooking - takes five days. Burukutu typically has an alcohol content of 3% to 6%.
"We are pleading to the government to leave us to continue with this business," Peter said. "People love it and enjoy it."
Religious police chased her from her last brewing site and she now works from a restaurant that provides cover from the Hisbah, for now.
Sulaiman Ali, a security guard, said burukutu is filling and free of the chemicals he said are found in bottled beer and ogogoro, a local gin.
"This one is a natural thing, cooked and it is okay," he said as he sipped from a wooden bowl.
$1 = 411 Naira
Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Libby George and Angus MacSwan
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
No-stress scripture: Nigerian Christians relish Pidgin Bible
At the Heavenly Citizen's Church in Lagos, the pastor and congregation have adopted a new tool to help them understand Christian scripture: the first Bible translated into Nigerian pidgin.
Sometimes called pidgin English, the language is widely used and understood across regions and ethnic groups in the nation of 200 million people, although most books and newspapers on sale in Nigeria are in English.
"Most people here, they are not properly schooled, you know, and so we do more pidgin English here," said pastor Ben Akpevwe, who has been using the Pidgin Bible during services at his church in the down-at-heel Ejigbo neighbourhood in Lagos.
"Each time I am reading it in church they are always very excited because it is like identifying with the language of the people."
The Pidgin Bible is the result of three years of solitary labour by amateur translator Salem Egoh. He wanted to improve the understanding of the Bible in the fervently religious country, where English is the official language, but not the mother tongue for millions of people.
He said the job had required creativity because many words found in English versions of the Bible had no exact equivalent in pidgin.
"For example the word 'chariot' has no word in pidgin, we had to invent a word called 'horse motor' to represent chariot," said Egoh, who included a glossary of 1,000 words at the end of his translation.
So far, the Pidgin Bible consists of the New Testament, the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs. Egoh is working on a translation of the rest of the Old Testament, and hopes to release a complete Bible by the end of the year.
Working his way through a passage from the Book of Chronicles, he typed: "David plus all di pipo of Israel march go Jerusalem (wey be Jebus)." This was translated from: "And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus."
In the meantime, at the Heavenly Citizen's Church, worshipper Elizabeth Eromosele is already making good use of the Pidgin Bible, which is on sale across Nigeria and has been adopted by a number of places of worship.
"When it comes to English language you have to really crack your brain," she said.
"But when it comes to Pidgin Bible you will read it as if you are interacting, you are talking freely. You are just reading it with comfort, you are not stressing yourself."
By Angela Ukomadu
Friday, July 9, 2021
TB Joshua: Nigerian televangelist to be buried in Lagos
Thousands of mourners are attending the burial service at his Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in the Ikotun area of Lagos.
The 57-year-old died on 5 June after a brief illness, the church said.
Temitope Balogun Joshua was revered by people from around the world and tens of thousands of people attended his weekly services.
The charismatic preacher's rise to prominence in the late 1990s coincided with the explosion of "miracle" programmes performed on Nigerian TV by various pastors.
His ministry professed to heal all manner of illnesses, including HIV/Aids and attracted people from around the world.
Known as the "Prophet" by his followers, he ran the Christian television station Emmanuel TV and often toured Africa, the US, the UK and South America.
Mr Joshua came from a poor background and was brought up by his Muslim uncle following the death of his Christian father.
Other popular Nigerian mega-pastors were missing from the week of memorials, highlighting the frosty relationship he had with them.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (Can) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) previously described him as an "impostor" who belonged to a group of "occults" that had infiltrated Christianity.
Outside the church, flags of various countries fluttered at half-mast. It is hard to know if the flags represented the countries the prophet visited in his lifetime but the poles stretched for more than a kilometre.
The make-up of the thousands of mourners present also reflected the global appeal of TB Joshua - people came from the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and South Africa, where he was hugely popular.
People of Ikotun-Egbe, the suburb in Lagos where the church is located, came out in large numbers on Thursday to watch his hearse go past and many more lined the streets early on Friday.
Most of them are not members of his church but were affected by his philanthropy. Many more benefited indirectly from the industry created by his always busy church.
The dignitaries attending include Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Mr Joshua's home state of Ondo, who read a bible passage.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (Can), which had disputes with TB Joshua in the past over his style, also sent a delegation to Friday's burial, an indication that hostilities are over.
It is one of the things he wanted most while he was alive - to be accepted by Nigeria's larger Christian faith. It is perhaps symbolic that it has come at his death.
His wife, Evelyn Joshua, who has now been appointed the general overseer of the church, said her late husband grew the church from an eight-member assembly to what it is today.
"For gold to become gold it must pass through fire. I just want thank you for being a good father to our children," she said at Tuesday's all-day tributes service.
His children, Sarah Joshua, Promise Joshua and Heart Joshua, described their father as "a man with a formidable dedication".
By Andrew Gift
Related story: Controversial Nigerian pastor TB Joshua dies aged 57
Monday, June 7, 2021
Controversial Nigerian pastor TB Joshua dies aged 57
The preacher, popularly known as TB Joshua, founded The Synagogue Church of All Nations, a Christian megachurch in Lagos.
The father of three was one of Africa’s most influential preachers with millions of television and social media followers. More than 15,000 people from Nigeria and abroad attend his Sunday services.
“God has taken his servant Prophet TB Joshua home … His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God,” the church wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday, without giving further details.
One of the pastor’s lawyers Olalekan Ojo also confirmed his death.
“I confirm that the man of God, pastor TB Joshua passed away on Saturday after his evening programme,” Ojo told AFP news agency.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the preacher was one of the most respected pastors in Africa’s most populous country.
“He rose to prominence in the 1990s at a time when there was an explosion of televangelism in Nigeria and many parts of Africa. He was one of the most followed preachers in Nigeria and [across] Africa,” Idris said.
He was also popular in South America where he had held many religious campaigns.
Controversies
TB Joshua was known for making predictions and for his claims to cure various ailments and to make people prosper through miracles.
He was, however, controversial, with critics questioning his claims and saying he profited from people seeking hope.
According to Forbes, he had an estimated fortune of several million dollars.
Many African presidents, senior government officials, international football players, musicians and other high-profile guests have worshipped in his church.
In September 2014, the guest house of the church collapsed, killing more than 100 people, most of them foreigners who were in Nigeria to attend his services.
While authorities say the building collapsed because of structural defects, TB Joshua insisted the building was blown up by a small plane that he claimed flew over it shortly before it came down.
In April, the pastor’s YouTube channel, which has more than 1.8 million subscribers and 600 million views, was shut down over allegations of hate speech against LGBTQ people.
In one of his videos, watched more than 1.5 million times, a woman is seen being hit violently to “cure” her of her sexuality.
Homosexuality is illegal in Africa’s most populous country, and “homosexual acts” can carry a 14-year prison sentence.
Facebook had also removed several videos on Joshua’s page, which has more than 5.7 million followers, for his anti-LGBTQ remarks.
Related stories: YouTube shuts down prominent Nigerian megachurch preacher's channel for 'gay curing' claims
41 dead in Church collapse in Lagos, Nigeria
Evangelist T.B. Joshua to be sued for building collapse that left 115 dead in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigerian preacher TB Joshua explains wrong U.S. election prophecyWednesday, April 21, 2021
YouTube shuts down prominent Nigerian megachurch preacher's channel for 'gay curing' claims
A popular Nigerian televangelist has urged his followers to "pray for YouTube" for shutting down his account after he posted videos on his channel claiming to 'cure' gay members of his congregation of their sexuality.
"I got to know what happened to YouTube when I saw the viewers complaining... I want you to help me pray for YouTube... Don't see them the other way around; see them as friends. We need to be strong," T.B. Joshua said in a sermon posted on the ministry's Facebook page at the weekend.
The YouTube channel of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) -- run by Joshua -- was deactivated last week and can no longer be viewed by its nearly two million subscribers.
OpenDemocracy, a media rights group based in the UK, told CNN that it sent a message to YouTube on April 8 asking if the conversion therapy videos did not violate its policies.
"We noticed at least seven videos. In one video, T.B. Joshua slapped a woman and her partner whom he called her 'second' (partner) at least 16 times," said Lydia Namubiru, OpenDemocracy's Africa Editor.
"He said he was casting the 'spirit of woman' out of her," Namubiru said as she narrated the content of the footage flagged to YouTube and Facebook by her organization. The woman later told Joshua that she no longer felt affection for her partner because of his intervention, Namubiru said.
"In yet another, a young person... is slapped several times and his dreadlocks are shaven off before he testifies that he is no longer attracted to men," Namubiru added.
YouTube has not issued a public statement on the matter. CNN attempted to contact YouTube for comment but was not successful.
CNN saw an email sent to OpenDemocracy on April 13 by a YouTube spokesperson who stated: "YouTube's Community Guidelines prohibits hate speech and we remove flagged videos and comments that violate these policies. In this case we have terminated the channel... We reviewed the videos flagged to us and took appropriate action, which resulted in the termination of the channel."
'Prosperity gospel'
Emmanuel TV, the broadcast arm of the church, airs in Africa on DSTV -- a satellite service owned by South African firm MultiChoice.
SCOAN plays host to dozens of international guests, and local celebrities, who visit the worship center for prayers.
In 2011, Joshua was listed by Forbes as the third-richest pastor in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of between $10 - $15 million.
In a statement posted on Facebook last week, T.B. Joshua Ministries said it would appeal the decision by YouTube to suspend its channel.
"Emmanuel TV's mission is to share the love of God with everyone -- irrespective of race or religion -- and we strongly oppose all forms of hate speech! We have had a long and fruitful relationship with YouTube and believe this decision was made in a haste... we are making every effort to appeal this decision and see the channel restored," the statement said.
The Lagos-based megachurch also called on millions of its followers to protest on social media -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube -- against YouTube's action.
Reacting to Joshua's doctrinal methods, a spokesman for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella body of Christian groups in the country, told CNN that the association "does not interfere in how churches are run or how individuals operate their worship centers."
The YouTube sanction poses a big blow to Joshua, whose ministrations and humanitarian outreaches in different parts of the world are showcased on the popular video platform.
Joshua rose to prominence in the late 1990s following the boom of "prosperity gospel" -- a Pentecostal doctrine that hinges good health and financial blessing on the depth of faith an individual is able to demonstrate.
He, however, suffered national infamy in 2014, after a building on SCOAN's premises collapsed, killing more than 100 people -- most of whom were foreigners from South Africa, Chinese state media, CCTV reported.
Related stories: Evangelist T.B. Joshua to be sued for building collapse that left 115 dead in Lagos, Nigeria
Monday, February 1, 2021
'They were unjust to me,' says teenager freed after blasphemy sentence quashed in Nigeria
Omar Farouq had an argument last year with a colleague that would change his life.
Insults were exchanged in the heat of the moment, he admits, but Farouq, a teenager, thought nothing of the exchange until he was summoned to the police station and charged with blasphemy against God.
When word got out about the nature of his arrest, an angry mob descended on Farouq's family home forcing his mother to flee to a neighboring village, his lawyer said.
Farouq, who was then 16, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor by a Sharia court, in Kano, northern Nigeria.
However, his conviction was overturned on appeal by the Kano State High Court on January 22 because Farouq did not have legal representation at his first trial, his counsel Kola Alapinni told CNN.
"I'm delighted, I'm in a joyous mood. And I'm grateful to all those who helped and lent support for this outcome with the grace of Allah," Farouq, now 17, told CNN in his first interview following his release.
Alapinni was instrumental in Farouq's release from prison.
His Foundation for Religious Freedom discovered and got involved in Farouq's case while working on an appeal for Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy at the Kano Upper Sharia Court.
"We found out they were convicted on the same day, by the same judge, in the same court, for blasphemy and we found out no one was talking about Omar, so we had to move quickly to file an appeal for him," he said.
"Blasphemy is not recognized by Nigerian law. It is inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria."
Kano's High Court stated that Farouq's conviction as a minor "was done in error and ... is hereby set aside and the Defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted."
An 'unjust' punishment
Farouq says he feels aggrieved as that the Sharia court was "unjust" to him.
Officials for the Sharia court have not commented on Farouq's case, and efforts to reach them have been unsuccessful. CNN also contacted Kano state government for comment but has yet to receive a response.
In all, Farouq spent more than five months locked up without access to family or lawyers.
His family said they were not informed about the details of his case and did not even know what date his court hearing was held.
"They were not fair to us," his uncle Umar Aliyu told CNN. "When they took this boy to court, they didn't tell us the court they took him to... and they refused to tell us the date slated for the judgment. They kept chasing us away. I went to the Hisbah office pleading with the interrogator, but he told me to leave his office. I left hurt and close to tears, extremely sad."
The family also found out from media reports that Farouq had been convicted and sentenced, Aliyu said.
Aliyu recalls being "enveloped with sadness," every time he thought about his nephew locked up with no contact with his family.
"Everyone... was disturbed very much, we were really sad. We just had to console each other, counseling some to take it as something ordained by Allah... telling them to be patient. This provided some emotional relief.
"For the period he was in prison every time I thought about him, I became worried. Every time I thought about him sadness would envelop me."
'His life is in danger'
Now that Farouq has been freed, he says he is determined to finish his education and has ambitions to enter politics to fight against the kind of injustice he faced.
"I pray Allah will bless me to become governor or President to reform the Sharia and to end the injustice on my fellow citizens and myself since in some court cases the offense doesn't warrant the harsh judgment handed down. This is deprivation of your right, oppression, and abuse," he said.
Although his conviction was overturned, Farouq's life remains in danger from some fanatics who see his release as an affront, according to his lawyer.
Alapinni told CNN how terrified Farouq was when he turned up to meet him outside the prison when he was released.
"He himself knows he is in danger because when we tried to pick him from prison...you could see the fear in his face, he didn't even want to follow us...everybody had told him that if he steps out of the prison walls he will be killed," Alapinni said.
"We now need to arrange safe passage for him. His life is in danger in Kano -- it will never be the same," he said.
By Stephanie Busari
Related stories: Outspoken Atheist, Arrested in Nigeria for Blasphemy, Hasn’t Been Seen Since
Nigerian singer sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano state
Wife of detained Nigerian humanist pleads for 'proof of life'
Unicef condemns jailing of 13 year old for 10 years Nigeria for 'blasphemy'
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
US Adds Nigeria to Religious Freedom Blacklist
The United States on Monday placed Nigeria on a religious freedom blacklist, paving the way for potential sanctions if it does not improve its record.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated the U.S. ally — for the first time — as a "Country of Particular Concern" for religious freedom, alongside nations that include China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Pompeo did not elaborate on the reasons for including Nigeria, which has a delicate balance between Muslims and Christians.
But U.S. law requires such designations for nations that either engage in or tolerate "systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom."
Pompeo notably did not include India, which has a growing relationship with Washington, and was infuriated by a recommendation from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to include the secular but Hindu-majority nation over what it called a sharp downward turn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Other nations on the blacklist are Eritrea, Myanmar, North Korea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Areas of concern
Pompeo removed from a second tier watchlist both Uzbekistan and Sudan, whose relations with the United States have rapidly warmed after the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir and its recent agreement to recognize Israel.
On Nigeria, an annual State Department report published earlier this year took note of concerns both at the federal and state levels.
It pointed to the mass detention of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, a Shi'ite Muslim group that has been at loggerheads with the government for decades and was banned by a court.
The group has taken inspiration from Iran, ordinarily a major target of President Donald Trump's administration.
However, Nigeria has been widely criticized for its treatment of the movement, including in a 2015 clash in which hundreds were said to have died.
The State Department report highlighted the arrests of Muslims for eating in public in Kano state during Ramadan, when Muslims are supposed to fast during daylight hours.
It also took note of the approval of a bill in Kaduna state to regulate religious preaching.
Improve or face sanctions
While the designations relate to government actions, the State Department has already listed Nigeria's Boko Haram as a terrorist group.
The militants began an insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria that has since spread to neighboring countries, killing more than 36,000 people and forcing 3 million to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
Under U.S. law, nations on the blacklist must make improvements or face sanctions, including losses of U.S. government assistance, although the administration can waive actions.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Unicef condemns jailing of 13 year old for 10 years Nigeria for 'blasphemy'
The UN children's agency Unicef has called on the Nigerian authorities to urgently review an Islamic court's decision to sentence a 13-year-old boy to 10 years in prison for blasphemy.
The boy was convicted in August of making uncomplimentary remarks about God during an argument with a friend in northern Kano state.
Kano is one of 12 Nigerian states practising the Sharia legal system alongside the country's secular laws.
Muslims form the majority in the north.
The 13-year-old's sentencing "negates all core underlying principles of child rights and child justice that Nigeria - and by implication, Kano state - has signed on to", said Peter Hawkins, Unicef's representative in the West African state.
On 9 September, the boy's lawyer, Kola Alapinni, said he had filed an appeal against the judgement.
"This is a violation of the African Charter of the Rights And Welfare of a Child. A violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he added.
He told the BBC that no date had been set for the appeal to be heard in court.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Outspoken Atheist, Arrested in Nigeria for Blasphemy, Hasn’t Been Seen Since
She wanted him to be free to believe whatever he wanted. But she worried that if he kept up his commentary, the staunchly Muslim community he was born into would eventually retaliate.
“You should just calm down,” she remembers telling him. “They don’t care. They can just kill you and nothing happens.”
But her husband, Mubarak Bala, president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was not one to filter his words. On April 25, he logged on to Facebook again and typed a post calling the Prophet Muhammad a terrorist.
Three days later he was arrested by the state police after being accused of violating anti-blasphemy laws, which can carry a death sentence. He has not been seen since.
“We are concerned that he may be prosecuted under anti-blasphemy laws that provide for capital punishment in Nigeria,” wrote a group of United Nations experts who have called for his release.
Mr. Bala, 36, was arrested after lawyers in private practice in his conservative birthplace, the Muslim-majority city of Kano, complained about his Prophet Muhammad post to the police. Other nonbelievers are worried that these same lawyers are drawing up a list of other Nigerian atheists to be prosecuted and that more arrests may be coming.
The Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka wrote that Mr. Bala’s arrest was part of a “plague of religious extremism” that has in recent decades encroached on the harmonious Nigeria he grew up in.
While it was Mr. Bala’s post on Facebook that led to his arrest, the social media site was also the platform where he and Ms. Ahmed met. She messaged him there after reading that his deeply religious family had locked him up in a psychiatric hospital when he first came out to them as an atheist. She, too, was from a staunchly Muslim family, and she was curious.
“I didn’t want to judge him,” she said in an interview. “I was just like — I want to hear his own side of the story.”
Growing up in Kano, Nigeria’s second-biggest city and an ancient center of Islamic learning in the country, Mr. Bala was from a highly respected family, descended from generations of Islamic scholars.
But as he got older, Mr. Bala came into contact with people outside Kano, and little by little he lost his faith. And as terror attacks increased in Nigeria, he became more vocal in his criticism.
“What finally made me come out as atheist was a video of a beheading of a female Christian back in 2013 by boys around my age, speaking my language,” he wrote in an article about his personal journey that was published in 2016. “It hit me that the time for silence is over. Either someone speaks out or we all sink.”
But even just speaking out to his close friends and family was dangerous. His father and elder brother thought he was sick, and got a doctor who believed that all atheists were mentally disturbed to admit him to a hospital. He was beaten, sedated and threatened with death if he tried to leave, he said.
Mr. Bala has yet to be officially charged with any crime, according to Leo Igwe, the founder of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. And in violation of a June court ruling, he has not been allowed to see his lawyer. There have been repeated delays in the legal proceedings, partly caused by Covid-19 restrictions. Calls to the police in Kano seeking comment went unanswered.
Mr. Bala is believed to be the first atheist arrested in Nigeria for blasphemy, but Muslims often fall afoul of the blasphemy laws in the Islamic legal system adopted 20 years ago by the country’s northern states.
This month, Yahaya Sharif Aminu, 22, a singer in Kano was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death for circulating a song he had composed, which critics said elevated a Senegalese imam above the Prophet Muhammad. He was arrested in March after protesters burned down his family home.
There is also a blasphemy law under Nigeria’s nationwide customary legal system, which operates in parallel to Islamic and common law. Blasphemy under Islamic law can be punished by death — though such sentences are rarely carried out — while blasphemy under customary law carries a maximum sentence of two years.
It is still unclear under which of these laws Mr. Bala might be charged. But if charged under either legal system, his could be a watershed case since atheists previously had not been prosecuted on blasphemy charges.
Over a third of the 71 countries that have legislation against blasphemy, in violation of international human rights laws, are in Africa. Nigeria’s own blasphemy laws would seem to clash with its Constitution, which entitles every Nigerian to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the right to freedom of expression.
Nigeria’s population is roughly split between Muslims and Christians.
Growing internet access and the worlds it can open up to people pose a threat to the power that many imams, clerics and bishops have traditionally enjoyed in Nigeria, according to Mr. Igwe.
“They are feeling jittery because they know they’re going to lose their power base, they’re going to lose their credibility,” Mr. Igwe said. “That’s why they want to do anything they can to silence Mubarak, or to make sure that nobody emulates him.”
Mr. Bala was living and working as an engineer in the city of Kaduna when he was arrested. But the police told Mr. Igwe that he had been taken 150 miles away to Kano.
Some say Mr. Bala’s arrest may have little to do with his atheism per se. Rather, he is being punished in ways a former Muslim from another part of Nigeria would not be because he very publicly turned against his prominent Kano family and his Hausa-Fulani Muslim community, the dominant ethnic groups in northern Nigeria.
“It’s perceived as an assault on Hausa-Fulani Muslim society and virtue, by one of them,” said Olufemi O. Vaughan, a professor focused on African, and particularly Nigerian, politics and society at Amherst College. “It’s not just simply a critique coming from an atheist.”
Professor Vaughan said Mr. Bala’s arrest should be seen in that context, not as an indication that attacks on atheists are about to escalate.
“There’s a personal dimension to this which is so tragic,” Professor Vaughan said. “He’s got a family, a wife and he’s got a baby. Just set him free.”
Ms. Ahmed gave birth to the couple’s first child six weeks before her husband was arrested. She has cried so much since then, she said, that she has strained her left eye. She is worried about her own safety.
Her efforts to find out where her husband was — petitioning Nigeria’s Senate, and traveling to the national Police Headquarters in the capital, Abuja — have yielded no information. Her expectations have shrunk over the past four months.
“I just need proof of life,” she said. “That is all.”
By Ruth Maclean
The New York Times
Related stories: Nigerian singer sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano state
Wife of detained Nigerian humanist pleads for 'proof of life'
Wole Soyinka protests imprisonment of Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala
Nigeria's undercover atheists
Nigerian sent to psych ward for being atheist released and now receiving death threats
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Nigerian singer sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano state
An upper Sharia court in the Hausawa Filin Hockey area of the state said Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, was guilty of committing blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March.
Mr Sharif-Aminu did not deny the charges.
Judge Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani said he could appeal against the verdict.
States across Muslim-majority northern Nigeria use both secular law and Sharia law, which does not apply to non-Muslims.
Only one of the death sentences passed by Nigeria's Sharia courts has been carried out since they were reintroduced in 1999.
The singer who is currently in detention, had gone into hiding after he composed the song.
Protesters had burnt down his family home and gathered outside the headquarters of the Islamic police, known as the Hisbah, demanding action against him.
Critics said the song was blasphemous as it praised an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood to the extent it elevated him above the Prophet Muhammad.
'Judgement will serve as deterrent to others'
The leader of the protesters that called for the musician's arrest in March, Idris Ibrahim, told the BBC that the judgement will serve as a warning to others "contemplating toeing Yahaya's path"."When I heard about the judgment I was so happy because it showed our protest wasn't in vain.
"This [judgement] will serve as a deterrent to others who feel they could insult our religion or prophet and go scot-free," he said.
Who is Yahaya Sharif-Aminu?
Few people had heard of him before his arrest in March.
An Islamic gospel musician, he is not well-known in northern Nigeria and his songs were not popular outside his Tjjaniya sect, who have many such musicians within their ranks.
How common are death sentences in Sharia courts?
Several sentences have been passed, including for women convicted of having extramarital sex - cases which have caused widespread condemnation.
But only one has been carried out - a man convicted of killing a woman and her two children who was hanged in 2002.
The last time a Nigerian Sharia court passed a death sentence was in 2016 when Abdulazeez Inyass, was sentenced to death for blaspheming against Islam during after a secret trial in Kano.
He was alleged to have said that Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese founder of the Tijaniya sect, which has a large following across West Africa, "was bigger than Prophet Muhammad".
The sentence has not been carried out as a death penalty in Nigeria requires the sign-off of the state governor.
Mr Inyass is still in detention.
BBC
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Nigeria to relax coronavirus curbs on places of worship
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country where Christianity and Islam are widely practised, has recorded 10,162 confirmed cases and 287 deaths.
Boss Mustapha, the country’s most senior civil servant, also said a lockdown in the northern city of Kano would be eased, one of a number of changes over four weeks from Tuesday.
“Nigeria has not reached the peak of confirmed cases,” Mustapha told reporters.
Another official said the aviation industry had been asked to prepare for the possible resumption of domestic flights from June 21. He added that a national curfew would be shortened to 10 p.m.-4 a.m. from Tuesday, from the current 8 p.m.-6 a.m. order.
Nigeria’s financial sector will also be able to resume normal working hours, said Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator of the task force.
Other curbs remain in place, such as a ban on interstate travel, with a few exceptions, such as for essential workers. And face masks must still be worn in public.
By Felix Onuah
Reuters
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Video - Eid in Nigeria: Outbreak dampens festivities
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan is usually a time of celebration in Nigeria. This year, however, many children will not be getting new clothes and gifts. The pandemic has devastated the economy, leaving millions struggling to get by. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Nigerian religious leaders demand lifting of COVID-19 lockdown
Some reacted angrily to Monday's announcement by the Nigerian government prolonging a ban on religious services, among other measures, especially in hard-hit regions, such as Kano — a predominantly Muslim city in the north of the country.
The hotspot for new coronavirus infections has seen its rate spike to 852 cases and 36 fatalities. Nigeria has almost 6,000 infections and 182 deaths from the disease.
Several imams have been suspended for violating state-imposed measures to slow down the spread of COVID-19 in a country whose health system risks being overwhelmed by the pandemic.
Regulation resistance
With a threat of this magnitude hanging over Nigeria, why is there so much resistance against rules that seem reasonable?
"First of all it has to do with the nature of traditional society," said northern Nigerian analyst Aliyu Tilde. "People have a strong attachment to religion."
Muslims also feel threatened by perceived attempts by secular powers to regulate their religion.
"Some even think that this is a conspiracy to prevent Muslims from praying," and that there is no such thing as a coronavirus, Tilde explained, tying this attitude to the high illiteracy and poverty rates prevalent in the regions.
Rejection from all denominations
Many Muslims, however, including journalist Baballe Mukhtari, agree with the confinement rules, even if they have deeply affected their lives.
"I am happy, because I am now with my family. I don't go out, I don't attend mosque," Mukhtari told DW. "I pray at home. I do it for the sake of my health and my family."
Nigeria's Christian community, mainly localized in the south, has its share of fierce opponents of the lockdown.
Church leaders, such as bishop David Oyedepo in Lagos, are agitating for the reopening of churches. Oyedepo is the founder of the Living Faith Church, one of the largest evangelical megachurches in Nigeria.
Bishop Oyedepo uses his services and prayer sessions, which are now run online, mostly to voice demands for the reopening of churches.
In his habitual colorful style, Oyedepo calls the shutdown an attempt to cripple Christianity.
"The church is God's banquet hall where we are fed with spiritual food to keep us alive and strong. So whatever stops the church from fellowshipping [sic] is out to destroy what God is building," he said.
"There must be a devil behind it. It is not virus, it is demon, there is a demon at work behind the scene, I told you in the morning I can smell a rat."
Why should markets open and churches not?
Among Nigerian Christians, the resistance against government measures stems mainly from Pentecostal Churches.
Some faithful would agree with Mayowa Adebola, who says that he cannot understand why the government would close down churches, while allowing crowded markets to remain open.
"I went to Mile 12 market. Without exaggerating, I probably had body contact with 500 people," he told DW, saying that prayer houses are much more organized and safe. "So there is no genuine reason for locking up churches in Nigeria."
This is an argument often heared in Nigeria, said analyst Tilde, where the differences between prayer house and markets is easily forgotten. "Markets are usually open-air places, while mosques are enclosed. The togetherness in markets is not as intense and chaotic as in the mosque, where you congregate body to body and you shake hands," he told DW.
Tilde warned the central government against giving in to the demands of Muslims that the ulemas be reopened: "A lot of the teachers here are about 50. The children will survive, but the teachers will die."
More testing needed
Pastor Tunde Bakare, head of the Latter Rain Assembly Church, agrees. Bakare chides religious leaders who are calling for a reopening of prayer houses, especially in the case of organizations with large facilities.
"Instead of criticizing the government, they should collaborate with them," Bakare said. "They must be prepared to offer some of their halls for the government to use as isolation centers."
Authorities announced on Monday that they would start implementing precision lockdowns in all areas where there is a "rapidly increasing number of cases," the head of the country's coronavirus task force, Boss Mustapha, said.
As he announced a nighttime curfew and the mandatory use of masks, he complained that noncompliance with social distancing measures "was rampant."
Testing for coronavirus symptoms has been another key problem across Nigeria.
Only 35,345 samples have so far been screened in Africa's most populous nation of 200 million people. This worries Tilde.
"[The] government must improve testing," he said. "It is a shame that Nigeria has only about 10 laboratories for testing or so. Testing must be intensified."
DW
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
UK regulator sanctions Nigerian Christian channel over 5G conspiracy theory claims
The regulator said while it does not oppose broadcasts airing controversial views or those challenging health authorities, the claims in a sermon aired by Christian channel Loveworld News calling the pandemic a "global cover-up" posed serious health consequences to viewers.
The sermon questioned the need for lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus without providing context, according to the Ofcom investigation.
Loveworld was ordered by the agency to air findings from its investigation given the "serious failings" by the channel to protect its viewers during the program.
CNN contacted Loveworld News UK for a comment but has yet to receive one.
Nigeria's information agency also debunked the popular pastor's claim that the government imposed movement restrictions in its two cities to allow the installation of the new generation wireless technology, according to a local report.
Oyakhilome presides over one of the largest Christian congregations in Africa and the church boasts of having branches in countries and university campuses across five continents.
Ofcom said another report during the broadcast touted hydroxychloroquine as a cure for coronavirus leaving out doubts about the efficacy of the drug and potentially harmful side effects.
"However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put into context, they risked undermining viewers' trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health," Ofcom said.
By Bukola Adebayo
CNN
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Nigeria's mega churches adjust to empty auditoriums
But it took not only threats, but force and arrests for the message to get across.
In some cases those in charge of making the churches bolt their doors turned to the scriptures.
"May I use the words of [Prophet] Mordechai: 'For such as time as this we do what is appropriate,'" said the leader of an enforcing team in the capital, Abuja, as he arrested a pastor in front of his congregation.
Dressed all in black, had he had a collar he would have passed for a preacher with his baritone voice and gesticulations.
The pastor he led out of the church, donned in a burgundy-coloured suit, shiny black shoes and with hair that glowed in the sun, looked like many of those who now lead huge congregations in the West African nation.
These preachers have changed the face of Christianity in Nigeria - with their evangelical sermons, prophecies and promises of miracles.
Conspiracy theories
One of the most famous of these is TB Joshua, who last month claimed to be divinely inspired, predicting that the coronavirus pandemic would be over by 27 March, several days before a lockdown was imposed on the states of Lagos, Ogun and the capital, Abuja.
"By the end of this month, whether we like it or not, no matter the medicine they might have produced to cure whatever, it will go the way it came," he said to applause from his congregation.
When 27 March passed the TV evangelist found himself mocked for his "false prophesy".
But he defended himself - once again to cheers from worshippers - by saying: "What I meant was that the virus would be halted where it began, and in Wuhan it has stopped."
Other pastors have been accused of flying in the face of the authorities and spreading fake news, impeding efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The biggest controversy has been caused by Christ Embassy pastor Chris Oyakhilome, who in a video post that went viral, linked the virus to 5G networks and alleged that it was part of a plot to create a "new world order".
Such views have been widely condemned by scientists, who say the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is "complete rubbish" and biologically impossible.
Online prayer services
For some Christians, especially those who belong to the dwindling pews of the Anglican and Catholic churches, more needs to be done to weaken the influence of the mega pastors who exploit vulnerable people.
"Those that sell us the miracle waters, the holy oils and all that, this is the time to prove it," said Blessing Ugonna, a woman I met in Lagos.
But many of the mega churches, which run multi-million dollar business empires, have adapted to the changes brought about by the virus.
They are streaming prayer services online, and some families are trying to create an atmosphere at home by dressing up in their Sunday outfits with the head of the household even collecting "offerings" - or money - from the rest of the family to give to their church.
The churches are also making donations to the government and financially stricken worshippers in a move that is likely to see them retain popularity.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye - the head of Redeemed Christian Church of God that has a branch in almost every street in mainly Christian cities and towns in southern Nigeria - has donated 200,000 hand gloves, 8,000 hand sanitisers, 8,000 surgical face masks to the Lagos state government..
And the Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention Church - whose self-styled prophet Chukwuemeka Odumeje once caused a stir on social media for wrestling a congregant he claimed to be possessed by a demon - has earned some praise on Twitter for giving food to people who risk hunger during the two-week lockdown.
Empty streets on Holy week
Nevertheless, many Christians still yearn to go to church - and last Sunday was particularly difficult for them as it was Palm Sunday.
Usually, the streets of Lagos are packed on the day, with processions being held as the faithful wave palm leaves and re-enact Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem days before his crucifixion.
The streets were empty this year - just as they are likely to be over the Easter weekend.
But I did bump into a group of four - three women and a man - returning from a small service held in someone's home.
When I asked them why they had ignored advice to pray alone in their own homes, one of them replied: "Even the Bible said that where two or three are gathered, He is there in their midst. The Bible did not say one person."
'Prayer warriors'
I then went to the headquarters of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, known for its intense prayer sessions, in Ogun state.
The security guards told me there was no service.
"Not even an online service?" I asked.
"Not even online," one of them, dressed in a lemon-coloured vest, replied.
"So how are people keeping the faith?" I inquired.
He dug into his bag and put a booklet into my hands.
"That's what they are reading while the lockdown lasts," he said, before walking away and shutting the gate with more force than was required.
The 60-page booklet was called Thirty Days Prayer Retreat - with recitations from the books of the Bible.
It will not be surprising if the "prayer warriors", as the church calls some of its worshippers, complete it during the 14-day lockdown, rather than in a month.
By Nduka Orjinmo
BBC
Monday, January 6, 2020
Police in Nigeria on heightened alert after Soleimani's assassination by U.S.A
Qassem Soleimani was killed on Friday in a U.S. drone strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport. The attack has prompted concern of ramping tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Nigeria is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, the latter of which are mostly Sunni. The government last year banned the country’s largest Shi’ite Muslim group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), after violent clashes between its members and police.
IMN was heavily influenced by the Iranian revolution of 1979 which saw Ayatollah Khomeini take power.
“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has placed police commands and formations nationwide on red alert,” the Nigeria Police Force said in a statement on Sunday.
“This proactive measure follows intelligence report that sequel to the recent killing of an Iranian general; some domestic interests are planning to embark on massive public disturbances and sabotage,” it said.
It said senior police officials had been “directed to ensure maximum surveillance and security of lives and property across the nation.”
The statement did not name any specific groups or give further details. A police spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.
Reuters was unable to independently verify claims that public events were planned.
Nigeria banned IMN and outlawed its demonstrations which its members held to call for the release of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been held since 2015 when government forces killed around 350 people in a storming of the group’s compound.
The group last year said more than 30 of its members were killed in police crackdowns on its protests. Police gave no death toll.
Global News
Friday, December 27, 2019
Islamic State in Nigeria 'beheads Christian hostages'
IS said it was part of its recently declared campaign to "avenge" the October deaths of its leader and spokesman in Syria.
No details were given about the victims, who were all male, but IS says they were "captured in the past weeks" in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno State.
The 56-second video was produced by IS's "news agency" Amaq.
It was released on 26 December and analysts say it was clearly timed to coincide with Christmas celebrations.
The footage was filmed in an unidentified outdoor area.
One captive in the middle is shot dead while the other 10 are pushed to the ground and beheaded.
IS's late leader and spokesman Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir were killed in Syria in late October. Nearly two months later, on 22 December, IS declared a new militant campaign to "avenge" their deaths and has since claimed a flurry of attacks in various countries under the banner of that campaign.
One faction of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram now fights under the banner of "Islamic State West Africa Province" (Iswap).
Last year, Iswap killed two midwives it had previously taken hostage.
BBC
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Banned Shia group in Nigeria allege police killed 12 marchers
Spokesman Ibrahim Musa said the Shia marchers were killed in the northern states of Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Sokoto, and Katsina on Tuesday.
"The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has confirmed the killing of at least a dozen Ashoura mourners across the nation during the peaceful Ashoura mourning procession today," said Musa.
The group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), was banned in July after a series of deadly clashes with police. IMN said the police were responsible for the deaths of at least 20 people in July but the police gave no death toll.
Police in the northern city of Kaduna, where IMN said three were killed and 10 injured on Tuesday, disputed the account and said it dispersed marchers "professionally".
A national police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The group was marching to mark Ashoura, the day in Islamic tradition when the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein, died in battle in 1680.
Police had warned IMN members not to march, saying any gathering or procession by group members is "ultimately illegal and will be treated as a gathering in the advancement of terrorism".
Leader imprisoned
IMN said police attacked its marchers on Tuesday and, in Katsina, opened fire on them. It said members were killed in Bauchi, Gombe and Sokoto states, all in northern Nigeria, but marches in the capital, Abuja, and other northern states ended without incident.
Clashes with police in the last few weeks followed calls by the group for its leader to be released from police detention.
Their leader, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, has been held since 2015 when government forces killed about 350 people after storming an IMN compound and a nearby mosque.
While roughly half of the nearly 200 million Nigerians are Muslim, mostly concentrated in the north of the country, Shia are a minority.
Last week the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions said she had not been presented with any evidence to suggest IMN was weaponised and posed a threat to Nigeria.
Al Jazeera
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Video - Nigerian ethnic violence amplifed by religous divide
For decades, people in northern Nigeria have endured near-constant conflict. In Kaduna state, fighting has pitted the majority Muslim population against minority Christians . Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reports from Kaduna, Nigeria, on efforts to reconcile the communities.