How Boko Haram killed 17 members of my congregation - Pastor Chinda

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, Pastor Sarana Chinda of All Saints Protestant Church, Hauran Wanki, Barracks, Kano, recount how 17 members of his church were killed for refusing to renounce Jesus Christ.

“On February 23, 2013, eight out of the 13 people that were killed were my members who worked in a factory. They accompanied one of their relatives to look for work in Kano. It was around 7pm and one of them escaped because he was on night duty. Those who died were on morning shift and as they were relaxing outside that night, four men wearing babanriga (flowing gowns) came in a taxi cab and parked in front of our church.


“They asked, “Are you not supposed to be in church praying? Why are you not in the church with others. They answered that some of them were Muslims. The four men then ordered that Christians should go to one side and Muslims to the other side. So they separated them. They were not satisfied and wanted to make sure that no Muslim was harmed .

“They decided to make inquiry about their names; but the Boko Haram members realised that the names of some of them were Muslim names and they asked, are you people Muslims? We’re you not here when we separated Christians from Muslims. When they finished getting their names, they sprayed bullets on them. But one was lucky to have escaped because he was inside the room.

“After gunning down the 13 people, they ordered that that one that ran inside should come out from hiding or else, they would kill all the women and children in the house. The man became afraid and told them to give him an assurance that if he comes out they won’t kill any woman or child. They swore by Allah that they won’t kill him if he surrenders. The guy came out and they shot him dead.

“The only one that escaped among the 14 factory workers was the one that went to fetch water. He ran to my house and informed me that they had killed our people. As I prepared to drive to the scene, my wife wanted to follow me but I refused. But when I got there, I saw the corpses everywhere . I made some calls and policemen came and took the corpses away. I started looking for the identity of the people and it was then I saw somebody who said he sent for them to come and look for work.”


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