Release International

Fourteen churches in one town have been earmarked for demolition in one of Nigeria's northern Sharia states.

Christians in Zamfara report that, as well as the 14 congregations in Gusau town which have received demolition notices, several other churches across the state have had the same news. The demolition programme is thought to be the work of state governor Alhaji Ahmed Sani, an Islamic hardliner.

In fact, the programme dates back to 2003 when St Peter's Anglican Church in Governor Sani's home town of Bakura was destroyed on his orders. The church's pastor received a visit from a town councillor who announced the church would be demolished the following morning -- before Governor Sani arrived later that day.

'The governor is from Bakura and, because he is the champion of Islamic jihad in Nigeria, he felt it would be unwise for a church to be seen in his home town,' said Anglican bishop of Gusau, John Garba Danbinta.

Rev James Obi, secretary of the Zamfara state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, had his Channel of Blessings church in Gusau demolished in 1997. Now, he has been told his rebuilt church is to be destroyed too. 'It is just a matter of time, and these churches will be no more,' he told Compass Direct.

Since the introduction of Sharia or Islamic law in 2000, Christians have found it impossible to obtain land to build new churches -- yet Governor Sani is reported to have built more than 70 mosques with public funds in the past five years.

'No single church has been built by this same government. How fair is this?' said Rev Barnabas Sabo, a pastor from Gusau town.

• Pray for Christians in Zamfara state whose right to worship freely is being eroded. The introduction of Sharia was ostensibly to 'guide Muslims in their faith' but is being used to limit the religious freedom of non-Muslims.
• Pray for Zamfara state governor Alhaji Ahmed Sani, who is thought to be behind the church demolition programme. Pray that the federal government would intervene by insisting that the governor's actions are unconstitutional.

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