A Muslim employer was reported to have hired hitmen to kill his Christian employee who refused to be converted to Islam.
The Christian Headlines said the incident happened in Africa's Uganda last month involving Ashirafu Kasenyi, who is also known as Kasenyi Jackson. Kasenyi was a transport company owner who employed Fred Isiko as a driver for a van. He called Isiko to meet him on May 22 for some tasks at work.
Isiko, a Christian evangelist, brought along his friend Francis Maka to meet Kasenyi, a former Christian who converted to Islam in 1992, the evening of that day. Maka witnessed how his friend was murdered and narrated this during an interview with Morning Star News.
"When we met Kasenyi, he gave Fred some money to go and buy some meat at Kadama trading center and to bring it back for supper so as to have a business discussion the following day. As we were about to reach the trading center, three people stopped us. They said that they have some information for Fred," Maka disclosed.
"So I moved at a distance, and immediately one of them removed a long knife and cut his neck as I fled for my life and reported the incident at Kagumu police post," he added. "Police and hundreds of people converged around Isiko's body early the next morning."
Isiko's relative also revealed that there is a May 7 recorded conversation on Kasenyi threatening Isiko to be removed from his job if he refuses to convert to Islam. The conversation was said to have been recorded by Isiko secretly.
"You need to convert to Islam if you are to remain as my employee," Kasenyi said in the recording.
The recording went on with Isiko refusing Kasenyi. He replied, "I am not going to leave Jesus Christ; better to resign than leave Christianity."
The Christian Headlines said the local police have already arrested an unidentified suspect who admitted being hired by Kasenyi along with four other hitmen. The suspect also revealed that they were hired to kill seven other pastors besides Isiko. The other hitmen remain at large.
As per local police, they were not able to arrest Kasenyi since community members have avenged the death of Isiko by killing him. The community members were reported to attack Kasenyi in his residence, which was also destroyed along with his livestock and gardens.
Christian persecution in Africa is said to be increasingly worsening over the past year despite the pandemic. Data from the 2021 World Watch List showed 3,800 deaths among African Christians in 2020 due to persecution from Muslims.
While a report from Open Doors International said the pandemic even fueled abuse, most especially to Christian women in Africa. The abuse was mostly inflicted by rebel groups resulting to traumas for sexual and physical assaults aside from human trafficking on women.
Last year, a report revealed that there were 11,500 Christians killed in Nigeria alone due to persecution since June 2015. A Killing Field Of Defenseless Christians, who released the report, said persecution was mostly done by the Islamic militant groups Muslim Fulani and Boko Haram.
