Big Week for Nigeria

I was reading the "Persecution News from Compass Direct" in the right-hand column of this blog and became interested in Nigeria. There a 13 year-old Christian boy was kidnapped by Muslims who intended to force him to convert to Islam, but he managed to escape after four months. He is now in hiding in another village. You can read his story here. (I know Christians have been accused of all sorts of evils by the naysayers, but have we ever tried the "kidnapping and forced conversion" thing?)

This week happens to be a big one for Nigeria, Africa's most populous country; national elections are Saturday. One Nigerian columnist begins his latest article this way: "The State election is over with its shortcomings, disqualifications, expulsions, abductions, kidnappings, arrests, killings, and assassinations, now Nigerians are ready for the big one this weekend." And guess who else is on the scene in Nigeria? An Islamist group called the Taliban! Yes, just Tuesday they are suspected to have been responsible for a gun attack that killed 21 policemen at a Kano police station. Long live the religion of peace! Not that I understand a thing about Nigerian politics (good grief, there are over 50 political parties!) but I will report here the results of the elections, which hopefully will be the first peaceful transition of presidential power in decades.