Rev Adamu Gyang Wurim and his family died after their home was set alight less than 24 hours after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Northern region, ended a two-day peace summit in the state’s capital Jos.

The family’s church was also burnt down; with a further three people being killed in village attacks nearby.

The Chairman of the Berom Youth Movement, Thomas Tsok, told the New Telegraph in Nigeria that the attackers armed with machetes and AK47 rifles invaded a village at about 8pm, shot sporadically and burnt houses.

He said: “They first shot at two young men walking out of the village where they had gone to charge their phones in the pastor’s house, killing one and wounding the other.”

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Fulani militia-related violence has been escalating since 2015, with the central states of Nigeria – and particularly Adamawa, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and southern Kaduna – experiencing cyclical violence.

In a statement, Istifanus Dung Gyang who is a member of the House of Representatives for the Barkin Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency, condemned the killings.

He said: “There has been the sustained malicious destruction and mowing down of crops on farms in many villages aimed at strangulating the communities economically as farming is their main economic activity.

“The unfortunate thing is that the perpetrators of…

  While an estimated 3,500 churches continue to wait for their official legal status, the government has allowed unlicensed churches to continue to meet.  Ayed told World Watch Monitor: “We haven’t heard that a mosque was closed down or the prayer was stopped in it because it was unlicensed. Is that justice? Where is the equality? Where is the religious freedom? Where is the law? Where are the state’ institutions?” The Virgin Mary and St Mohrael Coptic Orthodox church, south of the city of Luxor, had to shut down on 22nd August after a church member said Muslim mobs were attacking it.  “A great deal of Muslim young men, aged 16 – 26, from our and nearby villages gathered in front of our church building, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest) and chanting hostile slogans against Copts and the church, such as ‘We don’t want a church in our Islamic village’,” church member Moheb Thabet told World Watch Monitor. “They tried to break the front door… but we locked [it] from the inside. “We immediately called the police who arrived and dispersed the demonstrators but they didn’t arrest…

Somer Umeed Bakhsh, 15, and his brother Areeb, 13, have lived in Glasgow with their parents Maqsood and Parveen since their family fled Pakistan in 2012 when their father was subjected to death threats due to his Christian faith.

The UK Government has repeatedly rejected the family’s plea for asylum, largely because officials do not believe they would be at risk in Pakistan where blasphemy carries the death penalty.

Almost 85,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Home Office not to deport the family, who are being supported by the Church of Scotland.

Somer, who wants to be an astrophysicist, recently got six As and a B in his National 5 exams at Springburn Academy in Glasgow.

Dozens of pupils from the school joined the boys at the Home Office depot in Glasgow on Wednesday to show their support for the petition.

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend Susan Brown(left-holding box) alongside Areeb Umeed with Rev Linda Pollock alongside Somer Umeed as they are joined by supporters at the Border and Immigration Agency, Glasgow.

Some carried homemade banners reading “We stand with Somer and Areeb” and “Hear our voices we are future of Scotland”.

Somer said: “It’s very nice to see so many people actually supporting us and it shows how much they care.”

Areeb…

Most Rev Justin Welby addressed the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday. 

He told the council that the Church is embedded in communities where conflict and violence is rampant and said that the Church “cannot and will not walk away” from those who are suffering.

“Let me pledge my support to you, Mr Secretary-General, in this work,” Archbishop Justin said.

“I have the privilege of having assembled a team in my office that is already learning from past experiences. Many of them worked with the UN. Together we can reach out to counterparts from other faiths to encourage their involvement and support, as they are already doing.

“This is our collaborative offer to you in this time of global pain.”

The Church has already begun mediation efforts in South Sudan, however Archbishop Justin admitted that it’s not enough.

He said: “Mediation by itself, however skilled, is like using a garden hose to put out a forest fire, when what you need is rain over the whole area to let new life grow and sustain itself.

“We therefore need to complement mediation – in fact the whole conflict cycle – within the framework of reconciliation.”

Archbishop Justin urged the UN Security Council to “invest in reconciliation and learn how to support transformation in human relationships better”.

Today I pledged my…