Christian man stabbed by Muslims for eating during Ramadan in Nigeria
A Christian man in Nigeria nearly lost his right eye and sustained multiple wounds on Tuesday, June 7 after getting stabbed by a group of young Muslim men who were angered to see him eating during Ramadan.
The 41-year-old Christian carpenter, Francis Emmanuel Olokpo, angered some young Muslim men in the Sokoto Road area of Kukuri who saw him eating during Ramadan at about 2:30 p.m. that day, according to an eyewitness account, as reported by Punch.
Olokpo, who was taken to St. Gerard Hospital in Kaduna where he is now recovering, told journalists that six Muslims approached him while he was eating at his workplace and asked him why he was not fasting. He told them he's a Christian but they already started attacking him.
"They used cutlasses, scissors and knives. I became unconscious; I don't even know who brought me to the hospital," Olokpo was quoted by Punch as saying.
Samuel Aruwan, from the Special Assistance to the governor on media and publicity, released an official statement that revealed Kaduna State Gov. Malam Nasir El-Rufai's visit at the hospital the following day.
"The government will not allow anyone to get away with any crime using his or her faith as an excuse. There is no compulsion in religion. It is a free country, and that means no imposition of faith or religious practices on anyone," the statement read (via Daily Post).
In a surge of violent attacks targeting non-Muslims, a pastor's wife accused of blasphemy was killed by a Muslim mob in June.
The director of National Issues of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Sunny Oibe, released a statement saying that the most recent incident only exposes the level of intolerance particularly by Muslims.
"Even if somebody refuses to fast, nobody has the right to embark on such animalistic behavior of attempting murder," Oibe said.
Oibe added that CAN is urging the Nigerian security agencies to guarantee that the matter is "not swept under the carpet."
Meanwhile, Olokpo told Vanguard on Friday, June 10 that there's no reason to worry over him.
"I'm being taken care of very well, and by the grace of Christ, I shall leave here very soon," Olokpo stated.