Muslim extremists from the Boko Haram sect killed Rev. David Usman, 45, and church secretary Hamman Andrew in Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state. They were the latest casualties in an upsurge of Islamic militancy that has engulfed northern Nigeria this year, resulting in the destruction of church buildings and the killing and maiming of Christians who are full of dread over the violence. Boko Haram seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) on northern Nigeria, and Christians have become targets of Muslim militants. Believers no longer feel free in their city, and most churches no longer carry out worship service for fear of becoming targets of these unprovoked attacks. Nigeria’s Christians make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims live mainly in the north. Also, Compass Direct reported on June 14th, ‘Christian Communities in Northern Nigeria are disappearing as Islamist attacks drive Christians from northern villages’

Pray: God would cause the Nigerian government to face up to the challenge of Boko Haram and provide protection for innocent communities. (Ps.5:10-12)

More: http://www.charismamag

Since Sunday there has been a massive military operation as the Nigerian Navy starts flushing out crude oil thieves who are bleeding the country’s oil industry through illegal bunkering. The Navy deployed eight warships, six gunboats and three helicopters, including aircraft used for maritime patrol by the Air Force. Oil theft in the Niger Delta on a daily basis, costs the government five billion US dollars in oil revenue annually. Thieves also engage in social responsibilities by building roads, hospitals, schools and engage in community development projects to protect their interests in local communities. Security sources suspect influential Nigerians are behind the operations of oil thieves who are usually heavily armed. Often the ruptured pipelines are not detected by affected oil companies. Foreign collaborators help the thieves to sell the crude oil and also procure arms which are then smuggled into the country.

Pray: this military operation will not only be successful, but lead to more strategic coordinated action against corruption. (Ps.12:5)

More: http://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71052:nigerian-military-moves-against-oil-thieves&catid=39:politique&Itemid=5

On Monday Fulani militants killed seven unarmed youths in Imande Dem, which is in the Guma local government area of Benue state. The youths, who were ethnic Tiv, a predominantly Christian group native to Benue, had reportedly been trying to recover the bodies of two others who had allegedly been killed previously by the same Fulanis. Also on Monday, an attack in Jol, which is south of Jos city in Plateau state, left ten people dead. We are asked to pray for those bereaved and traumatised by these violent attacks. May the communities affected by these killings be united against intolerance.

Pray: for all working tirelessly to support communities affected by violence, may they restore people's hope. May God guide, sustain and strengthen them as they repair broken walls. (Is.58:12)

More: http://www.releaseinternational.org/nigeria-militants-kill-unarmed-youths/

Refugees say Islamic extremists threatening a bloodbath are forcing thousands of people from villages in northern Nigeria where the fighters have regrouped following a month-long military crackdown. People who escaped through the bush to the Borno state capital of Maiduguri say the Boko Haram terrorist network have also written letters warning government workers to resign their jobs or face death. Some villagers fled to neighbouring Cameroon. In a separate operation in Kano state police say they have rounded up 400 migrants and are deporting those who do not have the necessary documents. A state of emergency and military and police crackdown since May 14 have failed to crush the extremists blamed for the killings of more than 1,600 people since 2010. Meanwhile Amnesty International received credible reports that the authorities in the State of Edo in southern Nigeria have hanged four men in Benin City Prison on 24th June – the first known executions in the country since 2006. See also http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18587

Pray: for the Government of Nigeria to know God’s way forward and for God to empower them with His wisdom in all decisions at this time. (Is.30:21

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/militants-in-north-nigeria-force-thousands-to-flee_856991.html

A bus station primarily used by Christian passengers heading south was bombed killing at least 22 and injuring 65. Several buses were destroyed. Kano is the largest city in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria. One of the buses targeted was full when the explosion happened, and was completely destroyed. Security in the city has been substantially tightened with the area of the explosion almost completely sealed off. In January 150 died in Kano in a series of co-ordinated attacks by Boko Haram. The group is fighting to overthrow the Nigeria government and create an Islamic state in the North. It is also believed to have a presence in Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer. It is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Pray: for the families and communities affected by the killings pray also for the federal government to overcome those who do not mean well for Nigeria. (2Th.3:2-3)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21845402

At least 16 people have been killed in the latest violence between rival groups in central Nigeria's Plateau state, officials say. The villages of Babale and Dabwak, mostly inhabited by a Christian community, were attacked on Sunday night, the officials said. Eleven people were killed the previous night in another village, Tatu. More than 1,000 have been killed in religious and ethnic violence in Jos over the past two years. The state lies in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt, between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south. The BBC's Ishaq Khalid in the state capital, Jos, says the violence is widely seen as religious, but there are many other factors that trigger it - including political rivalry. In the Plateau state which surrounds Jos, Hausa-speaking Muslims are seen as supporters of the opposition, while ethnic Beroms, who are mostly Christian, are perceived to favour the governing People's Democratic Party.

Pray: that God would intervene and bring peace to this troubled nation and protection for His people. (Ps.5:11)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14788525

Islamic militants have driven 19,000 rice farmers from their land in northeast Nigeria while a military crackdown is preventing thousands more from working their fields, raising fears of imminent food shortages adding to the misery in northeast Nigeria. The abandoned area is fertile, a regional bread basket created by the receding waters of Lake Chad. General hunger is anticipated this year because all roads linking the cities to the farming hinterlands have been closed down. Farmers have been locked out of their lands while those in the hinterland cannot come to the city for tractors or labourers for the next cropping. Meanwhile violence continues with 13 people killed when extremists attacked a boarding school for five hours in Damataru state capital on Sunday night. A student who survived by hiding under a bed said dozens of Boko Haram ordered students to take them to the teachers’ quarters, where they opened fire on teachers and students.

Pray: for an end to the attacks that are terrorizing the population of northeast Nigeria; for minimum violence as troops are deployed. (Ps.68:28)

More: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/18/3457539/islamists-drive-19000-farmers.html

'North Korea is grappling with an unfavourable situation but the regime’s tight grip on its people will prevent any Arab-style uprising’, South Korea’s defence minister said Wednesday. ‘The state of affairs in the North is indeed inauspicious and anything can happen there,’ Kim Kwan-Jin said in a forum. ‘We may consider whether the Jasmine Revolution could find its way into North Korea,’ the minister added. The impoverished North suffers persistent food shortages and downpours this month battered many areas. United Nations agencies say more than six million people urgently need food aid. The South, which blames its neighbour for two deadly border incidents last year, refuses to provide government aid.

Pray: that God would open avenues for Christians to serve where aid and resources are in short supply. (Is.32:3)

More: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/20/n-korea-can-avert-uprising-s-korea-minister.html

Many Nigerians are enraged, wondering how a senator notorious for marrying a 14-year-old girl can use Shariah law as an excuse to filibuster a constitutional amendment that has sparked a debate on the age of consent for girls. Since the country's secular and Islamic laws clashed in the upper house of Parliament last week, concerned citizens are using petitions, protests and social networks to demand the Senate revisit the issue. ‘Every Nigerian should bow his or her head in shame because instead of crushing the head of the lustful beast that seeks to fornicate with our children, to steal their virtues and to destroy their future, what the Senate did the other day was to compromise with and cater for the filthy appetites and godless fantasies of a bunch of child molesters and sexual predators,’ Femi Fani-Kayode (a traditional chief and former Cabinet minister) fumed in a letter to The Vanguard newspaper on Monday.

Pray: for the age of consent to remain at 18 in Nigeria and an end to the practice of forcing underage girls into marriage. (Jer.22:16-17)

More: http://www.kwqc.com/story/22902103/islamic-and-secular-laws-clash-in-nigerias-senate