Church of the Brethren in Nigeria is being persecuted—for over a decade by Boko Haram

Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN)  is the name of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Their members are being killed, kidnapped, raped, and the churches are being burned by Boko Haram, a radical Islamic terrorist group similar to ISIS, but bumped from the news lately. The original kidnapped girls were from a Brethren community.  Other Christians like Catholics, 7th Day Adventists, Mormons and also Muslims are also being slaughtered. (Nigeria is about evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.)  CoB in the U.S. is tiny--probably about 120,000 members, but the gospel was so successfully spread in Nigeria that the EYN has about a million members. I've looked through several articles from the Church of the Brethren headquarters in the U.S. and the word Muslim and Islamic doesn't appear in the disaster stories, unless it's about Muslims being killed or interfaith work with the Muslim communities. Boko Haram is referred to as "insurgents." Other Christian sources use terms like Islamic or Muslim.

“The Boko Haram insurgents came to the villages in large numbers and, using rocket-propelled launchers, explosive devices, and bombs, invaded our communities in Madagali,” he said. “They killed, maimed people and destroyed houses before hoisting  their flags in different locations in the villages.”

“Boko Haram attacks that killed at least 150 members of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, or EYN) in the past 10 months (2013) have caused 8,000 Christians to flee, EYN leaders said.”

“Militants from the Islamic extremist group destroyed 15 places of worship belonging to EYN, which is the dominant denomination in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in northeastern Nigeria with 180,000 members.”

“The Rev. Filibus Gwama, (EYN) Borno state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, believes the adoption of sharia is a strategy to checkmate Christianity in Nigeria.” (news report from 2001 about Sharia)

 http://www.brethren.org/news/2014/aid-efforts-continue-in-nigeria-mmb-members-to-do-advocacy.html

http://www.crossmap.com/news/how-can-i-celebrate-my-birthday-with-a-homeless-scattered-family-12600

http://christiannews.net/2014/09/09/bible-college-churches-shut-down-as-boko-haram-claims-territory-in-nigeria/

http://morningstarnews.org/2013/11/boko-haram-violence-cripples-christianity-in-areas-of-nigerias-borno-state/

http://www.worthynews.com/605-persecution-forces-nigerians-christians-to-flee-to-cameroon