Magic Statistics

Muslims in the town of Yana, Bauchi state, Nigeria, went on a rampage earlier this month, as I blogged here, after a woman was accused of blasphemy. One person was killed, seven hospitalised, and five churches destroyed in the violence.  Also, 1000 people were displaced from their homes.

It has now emerged that the riot was instigated after a Christian woman refused a Muslim man’s offer of marriage.

The Rev. Garba Gaius, pastor of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) congregation to which the young woman belongs, told Compass that Paitence Yusuf was at home the night of February 1 when she learned that a young man was asking her to meet him outside.

She went out to meet with him, and he told her he wanted to befriend and marry her. Surprised at what she was hearing, Rev. Gaius said, Yusuf sharply declined his offer.

As she walked back into her house, the man, whose identity has not be disclosed, told her, “I beg you in the name of God and his apostle, Muhammad, to please accept me as your boyfriend,” Rev. Gaius said. He said Yusuf looked the man in the face and replied, “You are pleading in the name of a person I do not know. Jesus I know, but Muhammad I do not know.”

The next day, the man, who was not named, brought several Muslims to Yusuf’s home and accused her of blasphemy.  Believing she was in danger, she took refuge in a local police station.

“The band of Muslims went after Yusuf to the police station and demanded that she be released to them to be killed in accordance with sharia [Islamic law] for blasphemy,” Rev. Gaius said. “The police declined to release her, and there and then they attacked the police men on duty and burnt down the police station.”

One man was killed when police fired on the crowd in self-defence.  That prompted an armed mob of hundreds of Muslims to run amock through the town.

Yusuf, an orphan who was living with foster parents, remains in protective custody.

The news report from Compass Direct quotes a local Muslim man who is critical of attacks on Christians by his co-religionists.  He attributes the rising number of such incidents to several factors: “undisciplined Muslim youths, politicizing of religion and drunkenness and drug abuse by many Muslims”.  He also mentions lack of godly parental supervision and discipline.

Compass Direct also reports today that a Muslim rampage in Sumaila, Kano state, Nigeria, has left one policeman dead and two Christian teenagers injured after one of the teenagers was alleged to have written a “blasphemous” article about Mohammed.  It has been established that the teenager in question could not have written the article.  A local pastor has determined that the article was in fact written by Muslims.

Previous related posts:

• Muslims riot in northern Nigeria over alleged blasphemy
• Four Nigerian churches to be demolished without consultation
• Muslims rampage against Christians in northern Nigeria
• Machetes come out in Nigeria

Hallelujah!

A Winnipeg judge has ruled that 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk cannot be removed from a ventilator and feeding tube pending a full trial in the dispute between his family and Salvation Army Grace Hospital.  Doctors decided last November to euthanasise Mr Golubchuk, an Orthodox Jew, after concluding that his chances of recovery were small.  His children, however, strongly protested, saying such an action would go against their religious convictions.  At that time, Judge Perry Schulman granted a temporary injunction prohibiting doctors from taking him off life support.

In today’s ruling, Judge Schulman directly contradicted the position of the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons, who recently arrogated to themselves sole discretion over provision of medical treatment.

Schulman ruled Wednesday that the hospital has no avenues to mediate the dispute, so the case must now go to trial, for which he will make himself available as soon as possible. Until the outcome, Golubchuk will remain on life support.

"…it is not settled in law that … the physician has the final say," said Schulman.

Under guidelines established by the College of Physicians two weeks ago, doctors in Manitoba were given new rules about how to decide to take someone off of life support. The new rules say that doctors must consult family members if they can't communicate with the patient, but the ultimate decision is up to doctors about when to take someone off life support. The family, however, must be given a four-day notice before treatment is ended.

Lawyer Neil Kravetsky, who represents the Golubchuk family, said the College should revise their guidelines.

Got that right!  Bill Pope, the college’s registrar, said earlier that the college would indeed re-consider its guidelines if the judge ruled in favour of the family.  Now let’s see if that actually happens.

The family also reports that Mr Golubchuk’s condition has improved significantly.

Miriam Geller said that her father, Sam Golubchuk, who is unwittingly at the centre of a precedent-setting court case, is now “being weaned off life support” and “is awake and holding our hands.”

“The nurses have him up in a cardiac chair every day a couple of times a day for two to three hours” and “a physiotherapist comes in regularly to do arm and leg exercises,” she added.

Expert doctors have filed affidavits on behalf of the family, saying there is no evidence that Mr Golubchuk is dying or close to brain death.  Hospital doctors maintain that he has had “a complete loss of consciousness”.

The hospital has not yet decided whether to appeal today’s ruling.

Prevous related post: Samuel Golubchuk in danger of being euthanised