Release International

Churches in Gombe state are on high alert after extremists apparently stirred up schoolchildren to murder their Christian teacher in class. Two days later, they set fire to a church in the same town.

Christians are in shock after teacher Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin was beaten to death at a secondary school in Gombe town. RI partners are already supporting her family.

Oluwasesin was supervising an all-girl class during an Islamic religious knowledge exam when she collected papers, books and bags and dropped them in a pile in front of the class. One of the girls then started to cry: there was a copy of the Koran in her bag and, she said, Oluwasesin had desecrated it because she, a Christian, had touched it.

A riot ensued, in which Islamist extremists joined students in beating Oluwasesin to death. The body was then dragged out of the building and burned.

Then, on March 23, a crowd of extremists set fire to part of the Evangelical Church of West Africa in the Chanchanya section of Gombe. The sanctuary was gutted before neighbours and church members could put out the blaze. The congregation must now worship in the open air, according to Compass Direct.

Rev Rukun Gaius of the Gombe chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria says it has received intelligence that extremists are planning to burn down another 15 churches.

• Pray for the family of Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin. Ask God to provide good people who will comfort and care for them.
• Pray for Christians in Gombe for whom persecution has been a daily reality, since Sharia law was introduced. Pray against extremists' plans to burn other churches.

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