A pastor was attacked and beaten unconscious by around 20 youths in the Ibaji area of Kogi state, Nigeria, after refusing to allow them to conduct a traditional African religious ceremony in a church building.
Pastor Michael Samson of the United Evangelical Church was asleep in his bed when the gang, armed with weapons, entered and severely beat him.
The pastor was admitted to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition. The incident has been reported to local police.
It is believed Pastor Samson was targeted because earlier that day, he prevented the young men from using the church building to hold a non-Christian ceremony called a “Masquerade.”
A Barnabas Aid contact explained that the “Masquerade” is a traditional Nigerian animistic religious ceremony in which worshipers of a particular deity perform rituals linked to the seasons of the year. The ceremony might include the sacrifice of animals, or in some extreme cases humans, and may also be accompanied by sexual acts.
Kogi state, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has a Muslim population of around 40%, and an estimated 25% are Christian. The remainder mainly practice traditional African religions either solely or in combination with Islam. Those who practice traditional religious ceremonies blame the emergence of Christianity for their decline.
Christians in Chad similarly face persecution from followers of traditional African religions. Animists account for around one-fifth of the population. In 2018, a “Yondo” initiation year, hundreds of young Christian men and boys fled from their villages to avoid being abducted to undergo brutal, and sometimes fatal, initiation rites. As part of the ceremonies, the young initiates are compelled to praise animist spirits and to use a secret traditional language historically associated with nationalist, anti-Christian sentiment.
From Barnabas Aid contacts and other sources
