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Militant Islam threatens Nigeria first, then all Africa, Catholic bishop warns

January 03, 2014

“If Nigeria falls to Islamic extremists, all of Africa will be at risk,” a Nigerian Catholic bishop has warned. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Hyacinth Egbebo, administrator of Bomadi, said that the terrorist group Boko Haram is pushing for the institution of Islamic Shari’a law in Nigeria. “If they should overrun Nigeria,” he said, “it will be a stepping stone to conquering smaller countries.”

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, with 160 million people, of whom half ar Christian. Boko Haram has targeted the Christian population in its terror campaign, and in the past 2 years nearly 2,000 Christians have died.

The terrorist campaign has destroyed the stability of the African nation, Bishop Egbebo reported. Particularly in the southern section of the country, where most Christians live, relations between Christianity and Islam had traditionally been amicable. But the Boko Haram campaign has endangered the future prospects for coexistence.

Asked whether he wished to send a message to the West, Bishp Egbebo replied: “Don’t sit by while Nigeria disintegrates! Make sure Boko Haram is defeated.”

 


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  • Posted by: jg23753479 - Jan. 03, 2014 6:38 PM ET USA

    It would be a refreshing change if a few Muslim clerics and politicians weighed in against this latest campaign of thuggery based on the Koran. That won't happen, though, and one is left to wonder if this is because Muslims agree with the murder and mayhem executed in their name, or because they understand that the Koran blesses the murder of any Mohammedan bold enough to stand up the religious gangsters in Boko Haram. Either way, it gives the lie to the common Western take on Islam as peaceful.