by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Pleading for his life, a pastor abducted by Islamic terrorists in northeastern Nigeria on December 24 last year has said on video that his captors will execute him on Wednesday, March 3 if their ransom demands are not met, Morning Star News reports. Pastor Bulus Yikura of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria was (EYN) was abducted during an attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Pemi village in Borno state; 11 other people were slaughtered during that attack.
The February 24 video in which Pastor Yikura is seen pleading for help was delivered to the Nigerian news outlet Human Angle by the Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram, a terror group which formally aligned with the Islamic State and changed its name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in 2015, Morning Star News reports.
“I’m calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the governor of Borno to help me, because I have been given a one-week ultimatum today, February 24,” Pastor Yikura reportedly says in the video. “If you want me alive, I beg you in your capacity as president, the governor, and our local government chairman to save me from this suffering.”
Also calling on the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the EYN president to secure his release, Pastor Yikura reportedly says: “Please pray for me. Today is the last day I will have the opportunity to call on you in your capacity as my parents and relatives in the country. Anyone who has the intention should help and save me. Please release me from this pain.” However, Pastor Yikura concludes, “if this is the end of my life, then praise be to God. It is my prayer that God help us all. That’s all I have to say, and may you all heed to my plea.”
According to the Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List, Nigeria had the highest number of Christians murdered for their faith last year, at 3,530 people, up from 1,350 in 2019.
Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List.