₦airaland Forum

Authorities in islamic Mauritania have arrested 15 Christian leaders since late November following calls for punishment by Muslims outraged over a video showing a baptism ceremony, sources said.

The families of 14 of the Christian leaders were also arrested, according to aid and advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC).

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The charges against the Christians were unclear; there is no law against evangelism in Mauritania, but officials nevertheless forbid non-Muslims from “proselytizing” and ban any public expression of faith except Islam, according to the U.S. State Department’s most recent (2022) International Religious Freedom Report.

Apostasy, or leaving Islam, is punishable by death in the northwest African country, where the population is 98 percent Sunni Muslim, 1 percent Shia Muslim and the constitution designates Islam as the sole religion of the citizenry and state.

At least three of the Christians were initially arrested on or shortly before Nov. 30 in Selibaby, more than 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of the capital city of Nouakchott, according to Spanish news service EFE. The arrests stemmed from protests calling for Christians to be killed after a video of a baptism ceremony appeared in social media, according to ICC and Christian leaders in the region.

“Tragically, this hostility has extended beyond the arrested individuals, affecting their families who are now facing harassment from their neighbors,” ICC reported on Wednesday (Dec. 13). “The Mauritanian government finds itself in a delicate position, torn between its commitments to human rights reforms and greater religious freedom, asserting that the arrests were made to protect citizens and other radical Islamist elements.”

Mauritanian officials believe the arrests were necessary to address the “Christian problem” in the country, as the video raised awareness of the presence of Christianity in the area, according to ICC.

A Christian leader in Mauritania told CDI that area protesting Muslims on Dec. 2 called for the homes of Christians to be burned.

“According to the Muslims, half of the population in the village has become believers,” he said. “They want to stop the progression of the gospel in this closed land. The police arrested six leaders at the beginning, but after checking the phone of one leader, the police found names. They are after any name they found in that phone.”

Mauritania’s 2018 Amendment to Penal Code Article 306 states that “any Muslim who explicitly apostatizes from Islam, or who says or does something that would require or include that, or who renounces what he knows to be required by the religion, shall be imprisoned for three days, during which time he will be asked to repent. If he does not repent, he will be sentenced to death for blasphemy, and his property will be transferred to the treasury of the Muslims.”

Mauritania’s laws and legal procedures derive from a mix of French civil law and sharia (Islamic law), but there were calls from the public for increased application of the country’s sharia-based criminal code, according to the State Department’s 2022 religious freedom report.

“The law prohibits apostasy and blasphemy,” the report states. “The criminal code mandates a death sentence for any Muslim convicted of apostasy or blasphemy..."

Faith-based Non-Governmental Organizations must refrain from proselytizing or otherwise promoting any religion other than Islam, and the government must pre-approve all group meetings, “including non-Islamic religious gatherings and those held in private homes,” according to the report.

At the same time, non-Muslim religious leaders stated the government typically does not prevent such groups from holding religious gatherings in private spaces, the report notes. Possession of non-Islamic religious materials remained legal, although the government continued to prohibit their printing and distribution, it adds.

Although Mauritania is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides everyone the “freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief” of their choice, the government continued to ban any public expression of religion except that of Islam, according to the religious freedom report.

“Authorized churches were able to conduct services within their premises but could not proselytize,” the report states. “An unofficial government requirement restricted non-Islamic worship to the few recognized Christian churches.”

You can read more here: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

"The roaring river finds its way, even if it has to pass through hard and impenetrable rocks," wrote the doctor after she was fired.


Dr. Fatemeh Rajaei-Rad, a professor and surgeon, was fired from the Babol University of Medical Sciences a little over a month after she attended an award ceremony for doctors without wearing a hijab, the doctor announced on her Instagram story on Tuesday.

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During the ceremony in late October, Rajaei-Rad was honored as an exemplary doctor in the city of Amol, northeast of Tehran, and was seen in a video from the event receiving the award with her hair uncovered and a scarf wrapped around her neck.


The footage sparked outrage among Iranian islamic officials, with the Friday Prayer Imam of Amol, Ebrahim Yaqoubian, calling for "legal and decisive action" to be taken against the surgeon. Yaqoubian added that the health officials present at the event should have confronted Rajaei-Rad and not given her the award.

Mohammad Baqer Mohammadi Laini, the representative for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the Mazandaran Province, expressed outrage as well, saying, "This hijab burning is worse than the hijab burnings during the protests," according to Radio Farda.

Laini complained that the medical officials at the ceremony "presented a plaque of appreciation to a brazen insulter of the greatest Islamic commands and applauded."

The surgeon was summoned to the Amol prosecutor's office soon after the event, according to Iranian reports.

Reza Hajipour, the representative of Amol People in Iran's parliament, as well as the head of Amol's paramedical faculty, the head of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Amol, and the head of the medical system of the Mazandaran Province were present at the ceremony.

The head of the hospital was also fired and replaced after the event, according to the Fars News Agency.

After the incident, a video was published showing the surgeon apologizing for not wearing the hijab and for "insulting the sanctities" of religious citizens.

In the video, Rajaei-Rad also said that she doesn't intend to seek asylum elsewhere, saying "My roots are in this land and water and I have no intention of leaving my country. I chose Iran to live, serve, and die, and that's why I have to obey all laws, including observing hijab."

Shortly after the video was published, a close relative of Rajaei-Rad told the Independent Persian that the surgeon had been detained, beaten, and threatened by agents of the intelligence department in Amol and forced by the agents to read a pre-written text for the video.

Iranian authorities have regularly published videos of detainees confessing and apologizing for supposed crimes, with human rights organizations finding that the detainees were often abused and tortured and forced to film the videos with a pre-made script.

The president of Babol University of Medical Sciences told Fars News Agency in October that the misconduct board for legal procedures to be carried out for her membership on the academic board to be revoked. On Tuesday, a final decision was made to fire her from the university.

"The roaring river finds its way, even if it has to pass through hard and impenetrable rocks," wrote Rajaei-Rad on her Instagram story as she shared the news that she had been fired.

Later on Tuesday, her Instagram page became inaccessible with an error page saying the page may have been removed.

Mahsa Amini, protesters awarded EU human rights award
The firing of Rajaei-Rad came as the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thoughts to Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement. Amini's family was originally meant to be present at the award ceremony, but Iranian authorities confiscated their passports and banned them from leaving Iran on Saturday.

Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, was arrested by "morality police" officers in Tehran in mid-September last year for incorrectly wearing her hijab, with her family saying that she was beaten by the officers in the van that brought her to the police station.

At the police station, she collapsed and was brought to the hospital where she later died. Her relatives have told foreign media that they were kept largely in the dark about the situation.

Amini’s death sparked intensive nationwide protests, commonly referred to as the “Woman, Life, Liberty” (“Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” in Kurdish) protests, last September, which continued in full strength for months on end.

The protests drew the world’s attention, with videos showing demonstrators openly clashing with Iranian security forces in an unprecedented way. In a number of videos shared online, armed security forces could be seen fleeing as masses of protesters confronted their attempts to suppress the demonstrations.

In August, the commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, called the protests “the strongest, most dangerous, and most serious” such demonstrations in the regime’s history.

While Iranian authorities temporarily stepped back enforcement of hijab laws after the protests, since the summer enforcement of hijab laws has been intensified, with police deploying technological measures to catch women without the headscarf.

Ibrahimlagosian:
Oh,the thing is based on the majority right?and you assume that the minority too shouldn't be deprived of freedom to express themselves as they want.isn't it?.
So if that's the case,can you speak up too for Muslim women who were denied to wear hijab or burqa by the christian majority government in france?.If not,you're just being sentimental and nothing else.

So, now, you're suggesting hijab is not a choice.

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Ibrahimlagosian:
But that's wasn't the criteria you used for the France 's assumption.you didn't consider the opinion of those who were denied to wear hijab or burqa.you said France have the right to do that because it's their country and land.So if that's the case,why shouldn't I justify Iran's action since it's also their country and land?

Could you clarify your argument, are you arguing that as long as muslims make up the majority of government, it is acceptable to force women to wear hijab, and non-muslim women don't have rights to reject it?

Ibrahimlagosian:
And what's makes you think that the Muslim people in France were okay with the banned hijab and burqa.

Are you suggesting it is acceptable to force hijab on non-muslim women?

Bliss52:
Iranian people Govern Iran, and they have parliament for laws

Some people went on EndSars protest, does that change anything?!

As long as Nigerian Government enforce everyone to wear clothb in public

Iranian people can ask it's women to cover their head in public


Same way an American citizen would not want to let go of his second amendment with gun rights

So, in other words, you are in support of forcing non-muslim women to wear hijab.

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Bliss52:
Bobrisky has a choice to sleep with a Man through the anus

However our society forbid it

Health wise it's the number one source of HIV


What am saying is there is no reason to be defiance to societal rule in Public


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If Black Americans hadn't rebel against societal rule in public, they'd still be living under the Jim Crow rule.

However, could you clarify your position, are you implying that it is okay to force hijab on non-muslim women as long as they live in majority-muslim societies?

Bliss52:




The laws of the land are paramount

Do not Islamize the West like UK and US

Do not Westernize Middle East like Saudi and Iran

And for clarity her offense is "association and collusion with the intent of endangering national security"



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Are you suggesting that wearing the hijab isn't a choice and that it is okay to force it on non-muslim women?

LeoDeKing:
Apostles of nudity will soon show Iran the full length of their tongues.

Care to explain the reason muslim males don't wear the hijab and love walking around naked?

You can read more here: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

Iranian civil activist Sepideh Rashno has condemned as “absurd” the four-year prison sentence she is facing over hijab defiance.

Rashno’s outspoken response comes after the regime sentenced her on several charges.

In a post on her Instagram account on Tuesday, she said, "Four years of imprisonment for having hair is just as absurd as if someone were imprisoned for having hands or feet."

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Rashno added in a defiant statement targeted at the Iranian regime: "Don't be happy either. Four years of captivity cannot create a change in reality. You are defeated by [people’s] awareness."

Rashno was arrested on July 16, 2022 , after a video went viral of a muslim woman haranguing her for failing to wear hijab on public transport. Rashno was later tortured into a televised apology for her actions and for the confrontation. In the “confession” video, there were bruises on her face suggesting she had been tortured. Rashno was released from Tehran’s Evin prison after about 40 days on bail of about $27,000, a huge sum for ordinary Iranians.

She has been found guilty of "association and collusion with the intent of endangering national security" and "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" [over her refusal to wear hijab].

She now faces a sentence of 3 years and 11 months.

Milad Panahipour, Rashno's lawyer, announced the initiation of a third case for his client, revealing that the appeals court had sentenced her to 4 months of definite imprisonment on charges of “publishing obscene images on social media.”

Rashno gained renewed attention last month when a photo circulated online of her meeting with protest rapper Toomaj Salehi after his release from jail having been accused of “spreading propaganda”’.

You can read more here: https://thereligionofpeace.com/

In the early hours of the morning, tragedy befell the Talvandi Anayat Khan Bajwa community in Pasrur, Sialkot, Islamic Pakistan, when 20-year-old Farhan ul Qamar (20 yrs), an aspiring medical student and devout Christian, was brutally murdered in his own home.

The assailant, identified as Muhammad Zubair (24 yrs), targeted Farhan for allegedly expressing support for Israel on social media during the recent conflict with Palestine.

For an agonizing half-hour, the heartless assailant subjected the family and other Christians in the vicinity to relentless abuse, baselessly accusing them of being Jewish agents and issuing ominous threats of mass murder.

The remorseless culprit has since been apprehended by the police, and disturbingly, he has expressed an intention to target other Christians upon his release from prison.


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Around 3:00 am on 9th November 2023, Muhammad Zubair surreptitiously entered the home of Farhan ul Qamar, and cut the power connection before shooting him multiple times in the head, shoulder, and neck. Farhan’s helpless mother, Nighat Qamar, was held hostage for half an hour, enduring abuse and threats from the remorseless killer. Zubair accused the family of being Jewish agents and vowed to kill them all.

Nighat Qamar recalls the horrifying moment: “I woke up to a power cut in the house and, to understand what had happened, I turned on the flashlight on my mobile phone.”

The beam revealed Muhammad Zubair with a gun in his hand, seated by the window, prompting the mother to scream in terror. The commotion roused Farhan, who was sleeping on a rope bed next to his mother. The grieving mother provided further details, saying, “My son had barely risen when Muhammad Zubair verbally abused him and fired multiple bullets into his neck, shoulder, and the side of his head.” She continued, “My son collapsed onto his bed and couldn’t stand up.”

After hearing the gunshot, Noor ul Qamar (55 yrs), Farhan’s father, who was sleeping on the first floor, rushed downstairs to find out what had happened. In an attempt to enter the room, Noor ul Qamar knocked on the door, but Muhammad Zubair threatened Nighat, stating that he would kill her husband too if she allowed him in. The helpless mother urged her husband to go upstairs to sleep and convinced him that an electrical spark had caused the power cut.

“He told me to send my husband upstairs, or he would kill him too,” recounted Nighat. During his stay in the room after brutally murdering Farhan ul Qamar, Muhammad Zubair repeatedly uttered, “You are dirty Jews.”

Once the harrowing half-hour episode concluded, and the ruthless murderer fled the scene, the grieving family called 1122 for medical assistance, but their efforts were in vain. The deceased’s body was transported to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Pasrur.

The Saddar islamic Police Pasrur inexplicably delayed the filing of the FIR. Despite the murder occurring at 3:00 am, the police registered the FIR at 3:40 pm, an illogical delay that defies understanding. However, an FIR 950/23 on charges of 302 against culprit Muhammad Zubair has been filed. The Saddar islamic Police apprehended the remorseless murderer from his bed while he was resting at his residence. In police custody, Zubair callously vowed to kill other Christians after his release from prison.

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Gunmen abducted more than 100 people from the Mutunji community in Zamfara State in northwest Nigeria this weekend for not paying a tax imposed by the bandits. A leader in the community was also killed, according to locals.

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The bandit’s leader, Damana, sent a ransom letter to the community demanding 110 million nairas (about $135,000 U.S.). He also threatened to abduct more people if the ransom weren’t paid. Neighboring communities were also sent a threatening note.

A Christian Leader from Zamfara State said the shooters targeted Christians, and that 72 members of his church were abducted. He said that dozens of attackers came on motorcycles shouting Allah Akbar [Allah is Greater] and abducted senior citizens from Mutunji villages and neighboring communities.

Locals said the attacks began Friday and continued through Monday, yet no police or soldiers responded — despite military and police checkpoints in the village. Survivors are hiding in the bush, and police have yet to respond. Villagers cry out for the government to protect them. The village is made up of Muslims and Christians, but islamic terrorists want to eradicate Christians.

[b]Gata Moses, a Christian rights activist in Jos city, accused the Zamfara government of keeping silent and being complicit in the attacks. Gata said that the gunmen are the same jihadists carrying out attacks against Christians in Borno, Maiduguri, Yobe, and Taraba. Some are Fulani militants killing Christians in Plateau, Benue, and Southern Kaduna.

A funeral was held in southwest Nigeria for a pastor’s wife shot to death in Taraba state a week earlier, sources said.

Oluwakemi Moses, wife of a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) pastor serving in Jalingo, Taraba state, was returning to the town with her 2-month-old baby from her native Ondo state when islamic terrorists shot at her vehicle along the Wukari-Jootar highway, said her husband, Pastor Konye Timilehin Moses.

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Addressing mourners at her funeral in Akure, Ondo state in southwest Nigeria, Pastor Moses stated in humble supplication that he would love the Lord no matter what, and that the devil was defeated in Christ’s death and resurrection, then paid tribute to his wife.

“Goodbye, righteous soul, till the resurrection morning,” he said. “I love you, Oluwakemi. Keep resting, my dear love, you’re indeed in the bosom of our Savior. Til we meet again.”

Attacks along the Wukari-Jootar federal highway at the intersection of Taraba and Benue states have been relentless, said Taraba resident Emmanuel Yakubu.

“Despite the heavy presence of military and police checkpoints along this route, incidents like these persist unchallenged,” Yakubu told Morning Star News in a text message. “Numerous citizens have faced similar ordeals. These occurrences demand immediate action from the appropriate authorities.”

Yakubu called on the military and the police to urgently intervene.

“Mrs. Oluwakemi left behind a 2-month-old baby. We vehemently condemn these criminal acts and urge swift action against these perpetrators,” Yakubu said.

Red alert at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria: a 29-year-old Muslim threatened to slit the throats of two members of staff with a screwdriver. He was caught. The muslim migrant had already disturbed a mass the day before.

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On Sunday, the Syrian had already disturbed mass at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Austria’s most important place of worship. He returned the following day – this time armed with a screwdriver. He is said to have used the tool to suggest “slitting the guards’ throats”.

“The motive is still unclear. It has not yet been possible to question him due to his aggressive behaviour,” said the provincial police headquarters on Tuesday. He was taken to prison.

Islamic clerics have condemned the recent squabble among a group of Imams in Inisa town, in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, leading to the death of two of the five contenders for the community’s Central Mosque Imam.

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In a live video done on Facebook by the Grand Mufti of Yorubaland, Sheik Dawood Molaasan, on the controversy on Tuesday, he narrated how the Imam selection crisis began in 2020, leading to the shutdown of the mosque.

The revered Islamic cleric stated that the squabble divided the community’s Islamic groups (sects), adding that it got really escalated because the king, Olunisa of Inisa, Oba Joseph Oladunjoye Oyedele (JP) Fasikun II, allegedly had a favourite for the position despite being a Christian.

“Islamic philanthropists and Aare Musulumi (Muslim head) in Inisa all agreed to select someone with relevant Islamic knowledge, but the king wanted a different person who was not versatile and had a pending case in court.


“The league of Inisa’s Islamic clerics chose someone who had his Arabic education in Saudi Arabia and had been Imam in Canada and Osogbo for over 20 years. Although the person did not seek to be the Imam of the Central Mosque, the clerics visited him and beckoned him to be the overseer of the mosque.

“The king’s favourite is lower in rank to become Imam. And it is not done that way anywhere in the world,” he said.

Molaasan further called out the king to agitate for an examination between the two contenders to see who was more capable of being the imam of the said mosque.

“This is not something the League of Imams will be voting for. It is the practice laid down by Prophet Mohammad, which entails appointing someone with a good knowledge of Islam.

“The two contenders should be invited and asked to sit for a competence exam.

He also appealed to the Osun State Government to appoint someone who would be leading the community in prayer tentatively while the selection of the new Imam is done.

Reacting, another Imam from Ilorin, Sheikh Hamad Labeeb, in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by one Hakeem, vehemently disapproved of the locking of the mosque over the feud, noting that the matter should have been handled diplomatically.

“How can a personal interest supersede the worship of Allah that two people out of the five? On Friday, I will be leading the Jumat prayer to oppose the ‘pray and die’ written on the wall of the mosque,” he added.

In his reaction, the President of the League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Jamiu Bello, represented by Sheikh Iskeel Lawal, said that the mosque was locked on the order of the court and not by Muslim elders in the community.

He noted that the state’s governor, Ademola Adeleke, is the only one who can solve the lingering Imam crisis in the community, adding, “The Islamic scholars should continue to push for an end to the issue so that the community can begin praying there.”


Recall that in 2021, the Osun State Government shut the mosque following a report of loss of lives over a disagreement on who emerged as the new Chief Imam of the town.

However, a statement signed by the then Deputy Chief of Staff to the state Governor, Mr Abdullahi Binuyo, disclosed that the state government decided to reopen the mosque after a peaceful resolution of the crisis that bedeviled the community.

The statement reads, “The Government of the State of Osun wishes to announce its decision to reopen the Inisha Town Central Mosque, following the ongoing peaceful resolution of the crisis that plagued the community.

“The government had ordered an indefinite closure of the Mosque to prevent the possibilities of an intra-religious or communal crisis trailing the inability to choose its substantive Imam.

“But with this new directive, worshippers can now congregate at the Mosque for their Juma’at and Eid prayers.

“The government hopes that the community will justify the confidence reposed in it, to allow peace to continue to reign,” he said.

The unnamed girl was shot on Sunday in remote village of Barsharyal in Kohistan, Islamic Pakistian

The boys in the footage have also gone into hiding, fearing reprisals

An 18-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her own family after being sentenced to death by village elders for dancing with a boy.

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The killing, in the village of Barsharyal in Pakistan's mountainous Kohistan region, is being investigated by Pakistani police as a potential honour killing.

A friend, who also appeared in the apparently edited viral footage, was sentenced to death as well but was rescued by police before it could be carried out.

Masood Khan, deputy superintendent of police in the Kolai-Palas district, said: 'They shot dead one of them while police rescued the second one.

'We have launched an investigation to trace those who killed the girl and who either advised or convened a jirga (the village elders) and sentenced her to death.'

He added that nobody was above the law and all those involved in the brutal killing would be brought to justice at any cost.

The girl was killed on Sunday in the Barsharyal village in the Kohistan's Palas (pictured), 150km northwest of Mansehra on the order of the council of elders, known as a jirga.

The second girl, who was rescued by the pol­ice due to the expected threats to her life, was returned home with her father soon after, as a senior civil judge ruled that her life was not in any danger.

The boys who appeared in the videos have also gone into hiding, fearing reprisals.

As per local tradition, the jirga had declared those who appeared in the images circulating on social media as 'chor' (thieves) and issued a decree for their killing.

Every year, hundreds of women in Muslim Pakistan are victims of honour killings, carried out by relatives professing to be acting in defence of a family's honour often in deeply conservative rural areas, say human rights groups.

Dr Farzana Bari, a human rights activist told Geo.tv of her concern for the safety of the second girl.

She believed that she would likely be murdered sooner or later and remains under serious threat, continuing that 'she has probably been misguided by her family. Knowing the kind of mindset that exists in the area, I think this girl would be killed.'

The caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Syed Irshad Hussain Shah, said he had ordered police to arrest those responsible.

'We are investigating,' Khan said, adding that male relatives of the young woman were believed to be involved in the killing, as public images of women are considered taboo in the area.

Such killings are often carried out over perceived offences such as elopement, fraternisation with men outside marriage or other infractions of religious and cultural values on female modesty, despite campaigns by rights groups and tighter laws.

Last year, an appeals court acquitted the brother of a social media star, Qandeel Baloch, of her murder, a 2016 killing that sparked national outrage and changes in laws covering honour killings.

Yet another incident occured in the same area in 2011 when a video of local girls cheering for a dancing boy went viral.

All five women in the video were allegedly killed, along with the boy's four brothers, on the orders of a local jirga.

Those involved in the murders of the 2011 case have recently been released.

We have been unable to reach those involved for comment.

The investigation is ongoing and so far no arrests have been made.

A healthcare worker charged with blasphemy laws simply for condeming the brutal killing of a student in Nigeria has today failed in her attempt to get a trial date in order for her case to be heard.

Mother-of-five Rhoda Jatau, 45, appeared at the High Court in Bauchi in the north of the country, having spent the last 18 months in prison.

She has reportedly been held without a trial and without the ability to communicate with her family.

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Ms Jatau was arrested was taken into custody after sharing a video of and commenting on the horrific lynching of 22-year-old Deborah Samuel Yakubu in May of last year.

Ms Yakubu, a Christian, used a student WhatsApp group to thank Jesus Christ for helping her pass her exams at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, Nigeria, where she was studying.

As a result, she was dragged from her college dormitory by male students, stoned and burned to death.

Despite the faces of her killers faces being clearly visible in gruesome viral footage circulated on West African social media networks, nobody has so far been charged with her murder.

Five days after her killing, healthcare worker and mother Rhoda Jatau commented on the case to her colleagues.

Sharing a video clip with a WhatsApp group of Bauchi State Primary Healthcare workers, she condemned the murder, defending Yakubu’s right to express her religious beliefs.

Ms Jatau’s colleagues forwarded her message, at which point she was accused of blasphemy.

Her neighbourhood in Katanga, Warji Local Government Area, was engulfed by rioting and violence. She was arrested, and her husband and children fled their home.

Rhoda was taken into custody and charged by the authorities with blasphemy, inciting a mob, and contempt of a religious creed.

In December 2022, she was charged with “intention to disturb the public peace in which the content of the video is a blasphemy of the Prophet Mohammed which seriously incited disturbance and caused the breach of peace of the community...”.

Human rights lawyers have pointed out that Sections 38 and 39 of Nigeria’s constitution guarantee freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and expression.

Human rights experts claim the continual postponements of the hearing are a tactic to keep Ms Jatau in jail indefinitely.

Today was the sixth attempt by her lawyers to secure her a trial and mount a defence. Previous hearings have collapsed due to the local government citing delays, loss of paperwork, or declaring unexpected holidays.

Caroline Duffield of Open Doors UK & Ireland said: “This is a bitter blow. Rhoda Jatau has been imprisoned without trial for 18 months now.

"Her only crime was to tell friends on social media that she condemned a shocking act of mob violence that killed an innocent woman.

"It confirms yet again that in this region of Nigeria, violence and persecution against Christians is happening with impunity.

"It is astonishing that the only person in jail over the murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu is the person who protested it.”

She continued: "Rhoda Jatau legitimately exercised her right of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief in a peaceful manner.

“To be prosecuted for sharing content condemning a senseless murder is astonishing. No action is being taken against those involved in the mob violence that took the life of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, in spite of footage being filmed by the attackers on their phones and shared."

Christians, a minority in northern Nigeria, face ongoing discrimination and high levels of pressure for their faith, including casual accusations of blasphemy and insulting the majority religion, Open Doors says.

Ms Duffield added: “The way the mob violence against both Deborah Yakubu and Rhoda Jatau is handled clearly shows a concerning culture of impunity against perpetrators in parts of Nigeria.”

Blasphemy laws exist in 12 states in northern Nigeria that adopted Sharia law in 1999, including Bauchi state.

The laws sit uneasily alongside Nigeria’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience and religious expression.

Both the European Union and the United Nations have repeatedly raised concerns and called on the Nigerian government to repeal blasphemy laws.

In their most recent letter to Nigeria’s government, dated August 2023, published recently in the absence of a formal response from Abuja, UN Special Rapporteurs highlighted the cases of both women.


They called on Nigeria’s government to repeal blasphemy laws, which "legitimise negative and violent social attitudes towards members of religious minorities and encourage and lead to acts of violence against them"

In Nigeria’s Kano State in 2020, a 13-year-old boy who declared his atheism was sentenced to 10 years in jail for alleged blasphemy. He was eventually released after high-profile international campaigns.

A 22-year-old gospel singer of Sufi Muslim background, Yahaya Sharif, was jailed in 2020 for singing about Sufi religious beliefs on social media. He is still in jail.

Islamic police (Hisbah) responsible for enforcing Sharia law in northwest Nigeria recently harassed, and stopped five Christian girls from going to church in Kano State.

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The Christian girls were walking to Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) when Hisbah Police stopped the girls and asked them to dress like Muslims. When the girls refused, one of the officers told them they would be punished if they went to the church. The girls were released after standing in the sun for three hours, and after the church service ended.

Mary, one of the five victims, told an ICC staffer that officers told them they were being punished because “Israel is killing our sisters in Gaza. If we like, we will kill you, too.” She implored Christians to pray for believers in Kano State.

A recent report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting cited harassment by the Hisbah police of Christians, mostly women.

Christian Leaders in Nigeria continue to remain silent to the persecution of Christians in Kano City since they are in the minority and don’t have a voice. Christian girls are often denied jobs unless they convert to Islam. Ongoing persecution in Sokoto, Kebbe, Zamfara, Zaria, and Katsina often go unreported.

A muslim of Guinean origin was arrested in the area of Avenue des Lombards in Troyes, France. He was armed with a knife, threatening passers-by and shouting “Allah Akbar.”

SOURCE

The horrific incident took place on the Avenue des Lombards in Troyes, in the immediate vicinity of student accommodation. A young muslim man of Guinean origin, a single minor accommodated in a nearby shelter, had initially attacked one of the educators at the centre that was taking him in. The educator managed to defend himself, whereupon the young muslim man left the premises.

He was wearing a traditional religious garment and then went out onto the public street. Armed with several knives, one of which had a fairly large blade, he shouted threats at passers-by who encountered him. He also shouted “Allah Akbar,” causing immediate panic.

As soon as they were informed, the police quickly arrived on site and arrested him. Taken to the police station, he was placed in police custody.

Honour Killing is part and parcel of Islam. quran 18:65-81 lays the theological groundwork for honour killing.