Since Sunday there has been a massive military operation as the Nigerian Navy starts flushing out crude oil thieves who are bleeding the country’s oil industry through illegal bunkering. The Navy deployed eight warships, six gunboats and three helicopters, including aircraft used for maritime patrol by the Air Force. Oil theft in the Niger Delta on a daily basis, costs the government five billion US dollars in oil revenue annually. Thieves also engage in social responsibilities by building roads, hospitals, schools and engage in community development projects to protect their interests in local communities. Security sources suspect influential Nigerians are behind the operations of oil thieves who are usually heavily armed. Often the ruptured pipelines are not detected by affected oil companies. Foreign collaborators help the thieves to sell the crude oil and also procure arms which are then smuggled into the country.

Pray: this military operation will not only be successful, but lead to more strategic coordinated action against corruption. (Ps.12:5)

More: http://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71052:nigerian-military-moves-against-oil-thieves&catid=39:politique&Itemid=5

On Wednesday Oct 24th ex-militants in the Niger-Delta reported a secret conduit through which the militant Islamic sect Boko Haram transports weapons/ammunition into the country with the help of a top government official (name withheld) using his influence to circumvent Nigerian Customs. Earlier this year, speaking at a church service marking the 2012 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, President Goodluck Jonathan had said that members of the Islamic sect had infiltrated the three arms of government at the federal level. He confessed that combating Boko Haram was complicated as members of the Boko Haram sect were in the armed forces, the executive, legislature and judiciary. Last Sunday after three days of Islamic attacks against churches and other targets that left dozens dead, hundreds of residents began fleeing north-eastern Nigeria. See: http://www.worthynews.com/11819-nigeria-militants-attack-church-and-other-targets-dozens-killed Boko Haram’s militant campaign and the military response are believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009.

Pray: that the government will be able to improve security. Pray for protection of soldiers and citizens in crisis-hit areas. (Pr.24:3-4)

More: http://allafrica.com/stories/201210230708.html

Nigeria's Boko Haram has been accused of crimes against humanity. In a country where college students are lynched in tough neighbourhoods, the most depraved killers are still not considered terrorists by the State Department. The group is one of the deadliest organizations in Africa, accused of killing at least 1,500 people between June 2009 and September 2012. Its victims are the Police, Christians and Muslims it sees as betraying the true faith. They sabotage oil pipelines, take down automated teller machines and rip up telephone lines in a violent jihad against the West. This week clashes intensified between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces as the government claimed credit for killing the group’s spokesman. Meanwhile, a series of explosions rocked the northern city of Maiduguri – thought to be more work of Boko Haram. Boko Haram’s name translates into ‘Western education is a sin.’

Pray: that Boko Haram would be designated a terrorist organization and for the world to understand there is a need for more protection of innocent Nigerian lives. (Ps.34:6,7)

More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/16/nigeria-s-most-sadistic-killers-why-is-boko-haram-not-designated-a-terrorist-group.html

Nigerian troops have opened fire and burnt buildings in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, reportedly killing 30 civilians. The shootings came after a bomb blast targeting the army had injured two soldiers. On Sunday, the army said it killed 30 Boko Haram members in another north-eastern city, Damaturu. Eyewitnesses in Maiduguri said soldiers began to indiscriminately open fire on residents and set fire to homes and businesses. An Associated Press reporter in the city reportedly counted 30 bodies and 50 buildings that had been set ablaze. Unnamed nurses at the local Umaru Shehu Hospital were quoted by Reuters News Agency as saying that 30 bodies in civilian clothes had been brought in, with a further five corpses in military uniforms. ‘Initially, soldiers that came after the explosion harassed residents, whipping them,’ one person told AFP News Agency. ‘But later they went on a shooting spree and started setting homes and shops on fire.’

Pray: for peace across this nation that those who kill and maim from each side be stopped and that peace would reign. (Ps.34:14)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19875391

Updated October 2013

NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS IN THE DIASPORA

Isa 62:6-7

“O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.” NLT

Dear Compatriots,

We bring you greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that this letter meets you well.

As you may be aware, Nigeria has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons: widespread insecurity, bombings and killings by Boko Haram mainly targeting churches and Christians; widespread corruption and fraud; high unemployment resulting in frustration and crime among the youths; falling educational standards; prevalence of ritual killings and occultism; kidnap and rape, just to mention a few. The CIA and other western organisations had predicted that Nigeria may be a failed state by 2015. Unfortunately, events are conspiring to bring this negative prophecy to pass!

At least 20 people, mostly students, were killed by unknown gunmen in north-eastern Nigeria at a student hostel. One Mubi resident said more than 40 students had been killed but there is no official death toll. The killing comes days after a major operation against the Boko Haram militant group in the town. BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says mobile phone masts in the area were recently attacked by the militants, so getting information from Mubi is difficult. 'Everybody is scared.' A resident who did not want his name to be used told the BBC that men in military uniform asked the students to line up and say their names. Some were then shot and others stabbed with knives and their bodies left in lines outside the buildings. He said it is not clear why some were killed and others spared. Some of those killed were Muslims and others Christian.

Pray: for all those living in fear in Nigeria to have a sense of God's presence in their lives daily, pray for Nigeria to come into the inheritance that God has provided for her. (Ps.27:13-4) & (Ps.35:20-23)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19801814

Praying for our Nation's Transformation

(Transcript of speech given by President Jonathan on the flagging off of the previous CAN Year of Prayer)

IN 1787 America was at a crossroads regarding the future of the country.  The Constitutional Convention was on the verge of total failure over the issue of whether small states should have the same representation as large states.  In this hopeless situation, 81 year-old public official, writer and scientist, Benjamin Franklin, offered a suggestion.  He was convinced Scripture is right when it states, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).  So he said: “Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men.  If a sparrow cannot fall to the round without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?  I move that prayer imploring the assistance of Heaven be held every morning before we proceed to business”.

Praying for our Nation's Transformation

(Transcript of speech given by President Jonathan - flagging off the previous 2012-13 Year of Prayer)

IN 1787 America was at a crossroads regarding the future of the country.  The Constitutional Convention was on the verge of total failure over the issue of whether small states should have the same representation as large states.  In this hopeless situation, 81 year-old public official, writer and scientist, Benjamin Franklin, offered a suggestion.  He was convinced Scripture is right when it states, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).  So he said: “Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men.  If a sparrow cannot fall to the round without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?  I move that prayer imploring the assistance of Heaven be held every morning before we proceed to business”.

"That they all may be One" John 17:21

"The Weapons of our warfare are not carnal but Mighty through God" (1 Cor. 10:3).

We are aware of the many problems that have plagued the Nigerian nation which include insecurity, corruption and general fall in the standard of morality both within the church and society. If Nigeria is to fulfill her God-given mandate, we need to find urgent solutions to these problems.

In view of the above, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has requested that Christians throughout the country embark on a one year prayer project for Nigeria starting from September 30th 2012 - September 30th, 2013 which will be preceded by three days of repentance, fasting and prayers on 27, 28 and 29th September 2012.

Nigerian forces have killed 35 suspected Boko Haram members in a crackdown on the insurgent group in the north eastern city of Damaturu, Yobe State the country's military says. ‘The Joint Task Force has succeeded in killing 35 Boko Haram terrorists in shootouts between Sunday evening through Monday,’ said Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, a military spokesman in Yobe, of which Damaturu is the capital. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed in the city late on Saturday, ahead of the operation that also led to the arrest of 60 suspected Boko Haram members. The curfew has been relaxed and residents are now allowed out of their homes from 7:00am to 10:00pm, Eli said. The ban on movements in Yobe's economic capital of Potiskum has also been eased. Military forces went door-to-door through three Damaturu neighbourhoods beginning late on Sunday and engaged militants in ‘a fierce exchange of gunfire’ through to the early hours of Monday morning, the spokesman added in a statement.

Pray: for success for the authorities as they seek to control the Boko Haram insurgents. (Pr.10:11)

More: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/09/2012924205430561216.html

A suicide bomber has attacked a church in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, killing a woman and a child and injuring 48, according to the Red Cross. Police said the bomber's car was stopped at the gates of St John's Church where he detonated explosives packed inside the vehicle. Bauchi has often been targeted by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria. Sunday attacks on churches took place regularly earlier this year. Doctors in Bauchi warned that many of the injuries were serious and the death toll could rise. Speaking at a nearby hospital, Bauchi Deputy Police Commissioner T. Stevens told journalists: ‘The situation has been brought under control. We have our men minding all areas.’ Attacks in central and northern Nigeria blamed Boko Haram of haveing killed some 1,400 people since 2010.

Pray: for a spiritual breakthrough in Nigeria that would lead to a ceasing of terrorist activities. (Ps.7:9)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19691781

Worried by the activities of Islamic fundamentalist groups, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has called for more vigilance by the federal government to check the rising wave of terrorism. ‘Being more vigilant especially at the borders would help the country checkmate any foreign sponsors of terrorist activities in Nigeria,’ the Catholic Bishops said in a communiqué issued on 14 September at the end of their conference in Umahia in eastern Nigeria. The Nigerian government has been battling the radical Islamic group popularly known as Boko Haram, which has been responsible for various terrorist attacks in the northern parts of the country in which hundreds of persons, especially Christians, have been killed and many churches destroyed. The bishops' call comes on the heels of spirited efforts by the federal government to prevent the spread of anti-US protests by Muslims over a film said to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.

Pray: against the terrorist activities that take place in Nigeria and pray that the radical elements will be controlled. (2Cor.11:28)

More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5932