“They kidnapped me and threatened me to stop preaching,” said Amos Magani, a former civil servant who has been doing missionary work for 30 years. In 2017, he was kidnapped byFulani Islamistswhile traveling to another village on a ministry trip.
Magani was one of about 150 attendees at the Rod and Staff Conference in Kaduna State, Nigeria, an event organized by the Christian Awareness Initiative of Nigeria (CHAIN) in partnership with Palace Alliance, a U.S.-based aid organization. During the two-day conference, attendees were invited to share stories ofkidnappings and attacksthey had personallywitnessed or experienced.
Sadly, Fulani attacks on Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region are so common that nearly every conference participant had a story, each more harrowing than the next.
Magani went on to say that when he was taken, the kidnappers held him in thick bush, deep in the jungle. They threatened him with their guns and demanded a ransom.
At one point, he attempted to preach to his captors in the hopes of softening their hearts. However, the kidnappers responded, “If you are preaching to me, get me a goat,” a mocking response telling him to stop wasting their time. They released him after collecting 200,000 naira, which at the time was worth about $600 USD, far more than a year’s wages for many Nigerians.
Although the ransom had been paid, shortly after his release the kidnappers came to his house again, forcing him to flee. He has not returned to his town since then. He also no longer has a cell phone because the kidnappers took it, and in the intervening nine years he has not been able to save enough money to buy a replacement.
According to Amos, the kidnappers’ goal was to make him stop preaching. So, of course, he continues to travel and preach today.
Another of the conference attendees, an Igwe, a king of the Igbo tribe from Sanga Local Government Area, shared his story.
“Our place is in danger every night,” began the Igwe. “We are running up and down,” meaning they are constantly scrambling about in a state of panic. “They kidnap people every day. If you don’t have money, they will shoot you.”
“They have killed a medical doctor and a trader who sold herbicides and agricultural inputs.”
Source: The Gateway Pundit
