Wednesday 8 July 2015

'To die for the sake of Christ is happiest thing for me'

A Nigerian pastor whose daughter was murdered by Boko Haram for refusing to convert to Islam has said he is "grateful that she didn't change her religion".
Pastor Enoch Mark and his wife Marta were in Chibok, Borno State, the night that 276 girls – including their eldest daughters, Monica and Sarah, were taken from their school in the town last April. Some 50 managed to escape, but 219 were kidnapped, and are believed to remain in captivity.

Describing the night of the abduction in an interview on BBC's Panorama last week, he said: "I just hear a heavy bomb blast that even shook the church. I hear the shout of the girls because I am just about 500 metres away from the school compound."
"I heard how they shouted but I could not help." The pastor and his wife were forced to run into the bush with their five younger children to escape the militants, but their older daughters were taken away.
Marta told the BBC: "When we found out Boko Harm had kidnapped our girls, I was distraught. I've never recovered. I am still in terrible pain."
Several weeks after the abduction, Boko Haram released footage of 136 of the schoolgirls, purporting to show them having converted to Islam. The girls were shown dressed in the full Muslim hijab and reciting the Quran.

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