MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

John 16:2b, “… a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”

By Mike Pflanz – “It was the latest in a series of attacks blamed on radical Islamists who have vowed to wage a religious war on Nigeria’s Christians and drive them from the country’s majority-Muslim north.

Several dozen Christians had come together for a meeting in a town hall in Mubi, in Adamawa state, to mark the deaths the day before of several people killed in the town.

Up to four gunmen surrounded the building and opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles, killing up to 20 people and leaving another 15 badly injured.

‘We started hearing many gunshots through the windows,’ said Okey Raymond, 48, who was at the meeting.

‘Everyone scampered for safety, but the gunmen chanted: ‘God is great God is great’ while shooting at us.’

Mr Raymond said he hid under a table and escaped through a rear door. The gunmen also carried knives and machetes, the local police commissioner said.

No arrests have been made in the attack, and no one has claimed responsibility.

A purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mubi is close to the Cameroon border and is not in an area covered by a state of emergency declared by Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, following two weeks of sectarian violence.

The country’s population of 160 million people is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.” Read more.

Killings of Christians, Protests Roil Nigeria – “Gunmen stormed a shopkeepers’ meeting in northeast Nigeria and killed at least 20 members of a predominantly Christian ethnic group, apparently following through on an Islamic militia’s ultimatum to kill Christians if they fail to leave the country’s largely Muslim north. The lethal attack against Christians, the second in as many days, poses new challenges to President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. Under his rule, religious violence has surged again in Africa’s most populous nation, whose population is roughly split between Christians and Muslims.” Read more.

Christian Persecution Increased Most In Sudan, Nigeria, Report Says – “Sudan and northern Nigeria saw steeper increases in persecution against Christians than 48 other nations where Christians suffered abuse last year, according to an annual ranking by Christian support organization Open Doors. Sudan – where northern Christians experienced greater vulnerability after southern Sudan seceded in a July referendum, and where Christians were targeted amid isolated military conflicts – jumped 19 places last year from its 2010 ranking, from 35th to 16th, according to Open Doors’ 2012 World Watch List. In northern Nigeria, a rash of Islamist bombings, guerrilla-style attacks and increased government restrictions on Christians contributed to the region leaping by 10 on the list, from 23rd to 13th place.” Read more.