The Chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the Sumaila Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano state, Nigeria died in the early hours of 23September, as a result of injuries he suffered during a mob attack on his home in Massu the day before.

His wife and children were able to escape, but Rev Yohanna Shuaibu suffered multiple machete wounds over the course of the attack. The Vice Chair of CAN alerted the police, that rushed him to hospital, but he died the next day.

The mob also burnt down the Shuaibu's family home, the premises of the New Life church where he was a pastor, and the school.

He had already been warned that his life was in danger after a young Muslim man who converted to Christianity allegedly killed his brother’s wife during a fight. The extremists mistakenly believed Shuaibu had been involved in his conversion. The man surrendered himself to the Mobile Police Force (Mopol) but the pastor went to a neighbouring village called Biri to stay for a night with his family to protect them.

Shuaibu returned to Massu the next day to evacuate the students of the school for indigenous Hausa Christian children he had helped to raise funds for. As the tension seemed to have calmed down, they decided to go back home.

“A popular and inspirational figure”

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the Chair of CAN “was a popular and inspirational figure”, who, “oversaw the raising of funds for boreholes for Christian communities who were denied access to government-provided water sources”.

“Under his tenure, a faulty water source at the local mosque was refurbished by the Christian community in an effort to foster peace and unity”, adds CSW.

Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List report.