Nigerian Bishop's Family Assaulted; House Looted

Last week the Bishop of Jos’, Nigeria has had his house stormed during the Muslim riots against the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The mob who invaded his house beat his children and assaulted his wife.

|TOP|The attack was just a part of the anti-Christian violence on the weekend of 18th-19th February in which 18 Christians were killed and a number of churches burned.

A number of press reports and eyewitness accounts claim that around twenty men attacked the Right Reverend Benjamin Kwashi’s home Bishopscourt. The mob was armed with clubs, knives and guns.

They attacked and tied up the porter of the home, before smashing down the door. The bishop’s wife, Mrs Gloria Kwashi believing them to be thieves offered to pay them to leave.

The mob however claimed that they were there to kill the bishop and demanded to know where he was. Nanminen and Rinji, the son’s of the bishop were both beaten. Nanminen was knocked unconscious and Rinji’s jaw was broken.

The angry mob then assaulted the bishop’s wife, as they did not believe her claims that the bishop was in London. The mob proceeded to loot the house and forced Mrs Kwashi to the diocesan offices to find the bishop.

|AD|The mob used force to get into the offices where, in order to find out where the bishop was they beat his secretary, Deaconess Susan Essam.

Last week Bishop Kwashi said that his wife was recovering from the attack, her eyesight was recovering and that she had been released from hospital. A spokesman for the Church of Nigeria said that at present the mob’s identity is unknown, according to the Church of England Newspaper.

There is a belief that the mob attack may have had political as well as religious significance, as Bishop Kwashi is a special advisor to the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Youth Matters.

Archbishop Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria released a statement. He warned Muslims that Christian forbearance and the desire for “peaceful co-existence” must not be "sadly misunderstood to be weakness."

Akinola’s statement also read: “We have for a long time now watched helplessly the killing, maiming and destruction of Christians and their property by Muslim fanatics and fundamentalists at the slightest or no provocation at all... Peace is absolutely necessary for realising our dreams and aspirations.”

Akinola’s statement also warned “our Muslim brothers that they do not have the monopoly of violence in this nation...[the Church] may no longer be able to contain our restive youths,” if the anti-Christian violence continued.