Release International

Midnight raids on two villages in Plateau state are reported to have claimed the lives of eight people, amid continuing religious tension in central Nigeria.

Sources report that the victims, who included a woman and her daughter, were killed in the villages of Farin Lamba and Fan, which are in the Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas respectively.

This is the fifth recorded attack on Christian villages in this area in a fortnight. Prayer Alert reported on January 14 that at least 13 people were killed during raids on several remote villages in the area earlier this month.

According to sources, many women recently joined a protest in Vom in Jos South local government area, demanding the removal of the Special Task Force charged with keeping peace in the area. This force is facing mounting allegations that it is either turning a blind eye to attacks on Christian communities or may even be complicit in them (Prayer Alert, January 14, 2011).

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reports that a soldier guarding a church in Maiduguri, Borno state, was shot dead at his post on Sunday. This incident follows bomb attacks on three churches in the city last month. (Prayer Alert, December 29, 2010).

(Sources: AllAfrica.com, Middle East Concern, Reuters)

NEWS UPDATE:
An Egyptian court has convicted three men of involvement in the attack on a Coptic church in Nag Hammadi on January 6, 2010, in which six Christians and a Muslim security guard were killed. One man, found guilty of firing in the drive-by shooting, was given the death sentence for murder. The sentences for his co-defendants are due to be announced next month. Please continue to pray for an easing in the religious tension that has followed the Alexandria church bombing on January 1 this year, in which 23 people were killed. (Source: Middle East Concern)

• Pray for an end to the cycle of violence that continues to claim lives in Plateau state. Pray particularly that officials will do more to ensure that effective security measures are in place to avert further bloodshed.
• Pray for survivors of violent attacks on Egyptian churches, for whom painful memories will be revived by the recent court ruling in the Nag Hammadi case.

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