Magic Statistics

The government of Muslim-majority Kano state in northern Nigeria has announced that four Christian churches are to be razed so that roads and a hospital can be built.  The decision was made unilaterally.  No compensation will be paid.

Two Pentecostal churches and two churches belonging to the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) will be demolished under the northern Nigerian city's plan. The Rev. Murtala Marti Dangora, secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kano state chapter, said the road and hospital construction are a guise for demolishing the churches.

"Throughout last month [October], announcements were made by the Kano state government on its state radio that a road would be constructed in Badawa area, and that all structures there must give way," Dangora said. "These churches are located in the said area, and the government has refused to discuss with us about the fate of these churches."
. . .
Dangora said the ploy reflects the same strategy the state government used last year, when it instructed local authorities of the Rogo town council to demolish the HEKAN [United Church of Christ in Nigeria] church there. It was the only church serving the Christian community in Rogo town.

Church furnishings, Bibles, and a 30-bedroom building housing Christian public servants were also destroyed in the Rogo demolition.

According to local pastor Yahaya Ibrahim, there are 13,000 Christians in the Rogo area with no place to worship.  They are denied access to land to build churches.

In related news, an official inquiry into the 28 September anti-Christian rioting in Kano state has resulted in a whitewash.

A Kano state committee investigating the September 28 Muslim rioting in Tudun Wada Dankadai learned at public hearings that 19 Christians were killed, but it only reported three deaths in its interim report to state authorities.

The committee, made up of nine Muslims and three Christians, discovered from at least two official sources that 17 Muslims and Islamic preacher Isa Jihad were responsible for starting the violence, but in its report to the state government it sought to blame the disturbance on Christian students.

An Islamic preacher named Jihad.  Perfect.

Previous related posts:

• Muslims rampage against Christians in northern Nigeria
• Islamic school built on church-owned site without permission
• Nigerian state requires all students to wear Muslim dress

Lately, Celine Dion can’t catch a break.  Last month, she backed out of a concert in Halifax because city residents didn’t grovel at her feet give her enough respect.  Now she’s been dumped by presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.

For months, the soprano headlined Clinton's, D-N.Y., campaign appearances as Dion's "You and I" served as the former first lady's campaign theme song.

"High above the mountains, far across the sea," bellowed Dion over loudspeaker after loudspeaker.

"I can hear your voice calling out to me, Brighter than the sun and darker than the night, I can see your love shining like a light," the Canadian songstress would sing as the aspiring American president took or departed the political stage.
. . .
The song played on, from Iowa to South Carolina, without missing a beat.  But, now, only the sounds of silence can be heard from the Clinton camp's Celine CD.

The new Clinton song is “Blue Sky” by Big Head Todd and the Monsters.  I’ve not heard the song, but it can only be an improvement.

h/t: Toby Harnden at Telegraph Blogs, who attracted these choice comments:

let's pump celine's music into gitmo. that will knock water boarding right out of the discussion.
. . .
[A]nyone who listens to Celine Dion, let alone uses it as a campaign theme song, should be rounded up and shot at dawn.

All right, then.

Previous related posts:

• Celine’s husband blames lack of respect for concert cancellation
• Halifax to subsidise wealthy entertainer

Islamic apostaphobia rears its ugly head once again.  A British imam's daughter who converted to Christianity fifteen years ago has been forced to move 45 times after her own family threatened her life.  She has now received police protection.

Hannah, who uses a pseudonym to hide her identity, told The Times how she became a Christian after she ran away from home at 16 to escape an arranged marriage.

The threats against her became more serious a month ago, prompting police to offer her protection in case of an attempt on her life.

She was speaking on the eve of the launch of a new charity in London today to promote greater religious awareness. Muslims in Britain who wish to convert to Christianity are living in fear of their lives because of Islamic apostasy laws, a senior Church of England bishop will warn at the invitaton-only launch in west London.

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, will claim "freedom to believe" is under threat in Britain because of Islamic hostility to conversion.

Read the whole thing for Hannah’s horrific story.  Ruth Gledhill has more at her Times of London blog.

It is hard to believe this could be happening in a nation that has been a beacon of liberty and justice.

In related news, tomorrow Dr Nazir-Ali will help launch Lapido Media, a charitable organisation dedicated to publicising religious persecution and promoting religious literacy in world affairs.

Previous related posts:

• Islamic extremists consumed by “apostaphobia”
• British moral principles derive from Christianity