by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A video released on October 29 shows that a pastor in Nigeria who was abducted by Islamic terrorists on October 19 is still alive, Morning Star News reports. Appealing to the governor of Plateau state and to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and denominational Christian leaders for help, the Rev. Polycarp Zongo of the Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) says that he is together with two Christian women who were also abducted by the “caliphate” militants of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
ISWAP was originally part of the Boko Haram terrorist organization. Both ISWAP and Boko Haram frequently block highways in the northeast section of the country, stopping vehicles and abducting Christians. The terrorists then use their captives to negotiate with the Nigerian government for money. When negotiations fail, the men are often killed and the women are kept as sex slaves, MSN says.
On January 20, Boko Haram murdered the Rev. Lawan Andami, district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) in Michika County, Adamawa state.
On July 22, Islamic terrorists released a video showing them murdering five Nigerian men, three of whom were identified as Christians by a resident of Borno state, MSN reports. One of the executioners is heard to say on the video that this was a warning to “all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity.”
Nigeria ranked second on the Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians are murdered for their faith. It ranked 12 on the list for countries in which Christians are persecuted for their faith.