Angry Islamic mob burns down house of Nigerian Muslim for defending Christian student
Eight people died when a mob burned down the house of a Muslim in Zamfara, Nigeria on Monday, Aug. 22 because the man tried to prevent the lynching of a Christian student. The student from Abdu Gusau Polytechnic was beaten by the angry crowd when he allegedly made blasphemous remarks denouncing Islam.
A man identified only as Tajudeen reportedly rescued the student and brought him to the hospital, according to Pulse Nigeria. Eyewitnesses said that the mob's anger at Tajudeen led them to burn his house, killing the eight people inside.
A spokesman for the Zamfara State Police said that Tajudeen and his wife were not among the dead. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attacks as "barbaric" and "unacceptable." Buhari talked about the incident on his personal Twitter account.
Following the attack, the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic was shut down by management and the police enforced a 12-hour curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Christian organization Open Doors reported in March that there had been a 62 percent increase in violence against Christians in Nigeria in just one year. The report said that the source of persecution can be traced to Boko Haram, Muslim Fulani herdsman and Muslim religious and the dominant political elite forces in Northern Nigeria.
The organization recorded 4,028 killings and 198 church attacks in 2015. The figures for 2014 show 2,484 killings and 108 church attacks. There are about 30 million Christians living in Northern Nigeria who are at risk of persecution, according to Open Doors. The organization ranked Nigeria on its World Watch List as the 12th most difficult country to be a Christian.
Last July, a group of young Muslims stormed St. Philip's Catholic Parish in Baki Iku. Newsday reported that the angry youths attacked parishioners while they were praying inside the church. The youths reportedly declared that Christians are not allowed to pray on Fridays and that they only have the right to pray on Sundays.
