Torched Evangelical Church Winning All
Dike Ocha (50), the pastor of Assemblies of God Church in Kankia, was killed by a mob who torched both his home and the church. The incident took place on the morning of in Kankia, a local town in Nigeria. February 4th Local authorities expressed their sorrow for the incident.
Before the burning took place, Ocha notified police after discovering the body of a six year old girl outside his home. The body was identified as that of Fatima Yusuf. However, as he was doing so, a mob of young men broke into his house and harassed him. World Watch Monitor was able to receive an eye witness account of what had happened:
“I was in the kitchen cooking, when suddenly we heard a noise outside, and when we ran outside, we saw a crowd of people shouting that they will kill all the Christians in Kankia.” The witness explained. “We saw more than two thousand youths rushing towards the pastor’s house so we ran for our lives.”
Although Pastor Ocha was taken to the Emergency Room for treatment, the mob pursued and ended up torching his body. The mob also burned his home along with another local church, Evangelical Church Winning All.
Local authorities concluded that the incident was carried out by irresponsible youths and that the pastor did not bear any responsibility for the death of six year old Fatima Yusuf. They explained that the pastor was attacked because he was near the area the mob was most active and that they had some disagreement with the church’s activities or their religious orientation.
Church leaders in Nigeria expressed great concerns over Christians’ relations to other religious communities, for Christians and Muslims have lived peacefully in Kankia before this incident.
