International Christian Concern | August 2014

Your Bridge to the Persecuted Church

THE SOFT WAR AGAINST AFRICA’S CHRISTIANS

A Deafening Silence Boko abducts 240 girls (90% Christian). How did the Press miss this?

“We’re Going To Kill You If You Don’t Deny Your Faith”

Bits On BokoWhat they won’t tell you about Boko Haram

A Christian I Will RemainThe perseverance of Meriam Ibrahim

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INTERNATIONAL CHRIS TIAN CONCERN

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“We’re Going To Kill You If You Don’t Deny Your Faith”A Young Nigerian Girl Testifies How She Watched Boko Haram Murder Her Father & Brother

On May 13, 2014, a shy, teenaged girl sat, flanked by human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe and Hudson Institute Director, Nina Shea, facing a packed conference room.

After clearing her throat, she began to tell a story that would make its way to Capitol Hill and the heart of an intensifying debate: what to do about the brutal Boko Haram (BH) militants ravaging Nigeria’s North in their effort to establish a separate Islamic state. The following is a narration of the heartbreaking story of Deborah Peter.

It was as normal a day can be had in Borno State, a poverty-ridden Islamist stronghold of Nigeriia, largely unknown to the outside world.

Debbie Peters, 12 years old, and her brother were home from school, waiting for their father, a local pastor, to join them for the evening. He was working late at the construction site.

Shots began to ring in the distance; a common occurrence in Nigeria’s battle-torn Northeast. For years, Islamic extremists have waged war against the Nigerian Army and growing vigilante militias to establish a separate Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.

Debbie’s brother jumped on the phone to warn their father, “They’re fighting, again.” It was a warning he chose not to heed. He’d worked a hard day and just wanted to cool off at home, with his kids.

Debbie was relieved when he strolled through the door, like he did every night: hot, tired, and ready to jump in the shower. The night was normal again, the shots had ceased, the air was still, and the soft sound of water splashing onto the dry ground drifted from across the room.

A rap on the door disturbed the peace. Debbie’s brother, wary of his sister’s safety, opened the door to three men dressed in camouflage and adorned in lethality. It was clear: BH had finally come knocking on the Peters’ door.

“Where’s your dad?” They demanded from Debbie’s brother.

“He’s in the bathroom taking a shower, ” he replied, hoping his father’s nakedness would deter the men, that they would come back later, or, better yet, move on. But the men waited. The next three minutes passed slowly as Debbie and her brother waited tensely for their father to emerge from the bathroom to appease the armed militants standing in his doorway.

Irritated by the wait, the men stormed the bathroom, cut off the running water, and dragged Pastor Peters to the living room, standing him exposed before his children.

“You should deny your faith,” they advised him.

Debbie protested without thought or hesitation, “You can’t deny your faith!”

“We’re going to kill you if you don’t deny your faith,” the men responded coldly.

All eyes were on Debbie’s dad as his words slowly, methodically penetrated the breathless room,

“I would rather die than go to hellfire. God say’s ‘Anyone who denies me, I will deny in Heaven.’”

Without hesitation, the men raised their guns, placing one, two, three shots in his chest. His body crumpled, his blood pooling across the floor.

“Why did you kill him?” her brother screamed.

“Be quiet or we will kill you too!” retorted the underling of the three men, before turning to his comrades to say, “We should kill him too.”

The lieutenant protested, “He’s too young.” BH held a policy that stipulated the young, the elderly, the disabled, and women could not justifiably be killed in the pursuit of their cause.

But the sergeant sided with his servant, “He has a point, if we don’t kill him, he will grow up to become a pastor like his father.”

And with that, the men raised their guns once more, this time aiming at her brother. Two deafening blasts signaled the end of Debbie’s brother as his body fell, in slow motion, until it lay next to their father’s body.

Terrified and her world shattered, they dragged Debbie by her hair to lay her between what remained of her family. Then, just as the men had come, they left: silently, methodically, fearlessly. Protected by a culture of impunity and a state of lawlessness, they walked untouched from a house where in their wake two men lay dead and a young girl lay emotionally lifeless.

Debbie Peters’ story is not unlike many others’ from Nigeria’s northeastern states. The victims of BH’s increasingly deadly campaign of terror, Christians, moderate Muslims, government officials, military, law enforcement, educators and their students, have been systematically targeted by the Islamic insurgency for years.

Since its inception in 1999, BH, which translates roughly to “Western education is a sin,” largely became the sinister terrorist organization it is today, following the extra-judicial execution of its founder, Mohammed Yousif.

Under its new leader, Abubakar Shekau, a fundamentalist Islamic scholar, Boko Haram maintained Yousif’s policy of nonviolence toward the young, the elderly, the disabled, and women. . .until now.

Debbie Peters’ story is relevant not only for its tragic account of Boko Haram’s seemingly limitless capability for violence, but for its signaling a tactical shift in Boko Haram’s methods.

In abducting more than 240 girls from Chibok and Warabe

villages for the purpose of forcefully converting them to Islam before selling them as child brides into sexual and domestic

servitudes, BH has effectively said, “anyone and everyone is a justifiable target of our jihad.”

As Debbie’s story so clearly illustrates, action is needed to combat Boko Haram.

It has been desperately needed for years but at long last, their murders and crimes against humanity have penetrated the global consciousness.

Interest in righting so many past wrongs is peaking. International outcry is mounting as governments the world over match their concerned citizens’ #BringBackOurGirls tweets with formal condemnations and damning resolutions.

Coalitions are forming to pool resources to provide the Nigerian state with intelligence and training for their largely

incapacitated security and military personnel.

Unfortunately, BH is aided, abetted, and guarded by Islamists on the inside of Nigeria’s government and military. They operate with impunity, no matter how eggregious their actions.

What the future holds for Nigeria and if it can even hold together as a state are questions that remain to be answered.

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Boko Haram’s main area of influence

All eyes were on Debbie’s dad as his words slowly, methodically penetrated the breathless room,

“I would rather die than go to hellfire. God says ‘Anyone who denies me, I will deny in Heaven.’”

THE LAST WORDS OF DEBORAH PETERS’,

PASTOR FATHER

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Boko Haram, a radical Islamic insurgency bent on establishing a separate Islamic State in Nigeria’s increasingly lawless north, has perpetrated a campaign of terror so bloody the group is now being called the second most deadly terrorist network in history.

In recent years, Boko Haram has widened its definition of what it considers justifiable targets in waging war against those that stand as an impediment to its goal: an Islamic caliphate ruled by Sharia law.

With more advanced training, greater weapons caches and military-grade vehicles at its dispense, Boko Haram has been able to step-up its game.

This year alone, the group’s trend toward increased leathality anddestruction has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths.In 2014, Nigeria was designated the most violent country in the world toward Christians, even more so than Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan.

The vast majority of Boko Haram violence eminates out

from its stronghold in Nigeria’s northeast State of Borno.

www.channel4.com/news/boko-haram-nigeria-schoolgirls-kidnapping-killed-graphic

ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project): Conflict Events and Reported Fatalities 2013-2014

Bits on BokoDeadliest Terror Group in the World?“Boko Haram is the deadliest terror group in the world.” Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, Former Chief of Counter Terrorism Bureau, State Department”

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70%Christian’s #1 Enemy

70% of the world’s annual “crop” of Christian martyrs are killed by Boko

90%Christian Focused

Did you know that 90% of the 240 abducted “Chibok girls” were Christian?

13,000They’re Lethal & The Press Suppresses Their Focus On Christians

The tally of Boko’s victims has probably crossed the 13,000 mark and the majority are Christian. The press regularly suppresses Boko’s focus on Christians. As an example, look at this ridiculous headline (above left). This was after Boko killed 500 Christian villagers in one night by machete. The military had surrounded the village, cut it off from other Christian villages, and then let Boko in. The sources that the BBC and Times rely on in the North are largely Muslim and skew the news.

Recent Attacks on Christians

Here is a chart showing 2014 attacks on Christians from Boko Haram from “religionofpeace.com.

The Press regularly down-plays Boko’s focus on annihalting Christians from the North.

Sadly, so many Christian targets in the North have been eliminated that they are broadening their target list.

Funding & Logisitics

Boko is funded by the Saudi’s and the Gulf States (individuals and Govts.) as well as by criminal activity.

They have received training and men-toring from other Islamist groups and reportedly Al Qaeda gave them $3MM in seed money around the time of 9/11.

This amazing graphic comes from World Policy.org from their winter 2012 issue.

9/11 Commission/Stanford /US Navy Center for Contemporary Conflict

Bits on Boko

NETWORK

Inside Job? How does an irregular army operate within a country with relative impunity for over a decade? How has Boko ransacked so many army depots with such ease?

Ask any Nigerian and they will tell you. It’s the fox guarding the henhouse. Boko is aided and abetted from sources within the government and military. Look at these recent headlineswhere ten Nigerian generals were recently convicted and court-martialed for arming Boko.

You are probably familiar with the Nigerian emails scams that reportedly come to you from a wealthy foreign widow who has $20 million of her husband’s money locked away in some country and she needs your help to get it out and for helping her, she will share it with you.

Some counter-terror sources are saying that some of this is coming from and funding Boko!

I Have $20 Million. . . May I Share it with You?

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