CRC Workers Gear Up to Help Riot-torn Jos, Nigeria

A Christian Reformed World Relief Committee worker says the church near his home in a compound in Jos, Nigeria, was burned down by rioters who then in turn tried to burn down his home.

"Our house shares a fence with a church in Jos. The church was burned down by rioters who attempted to set our house on fire as well, but several people defended it until security forces arrived. They told me that soldiers are stationed outside our compound, but it and the rest of our neighborhood are safe.”

Meanwhile, a Christian Reformed Church World Missions employee said that shooting and rioting occurred outside the compound on Friday and Saturday, but things had quieted down by Sunday as soldiers patrolled the streets. Twice "thugs" came to the door of the compound and asked if they were hiding any Muslims.

"Please pray for all of those who have lost homes and family members," said the CRWM employee in an email to the office in Grand Rapids. "Many churches have been burnt … Please pray that Christians will reach out and help and that there will be emotional healing as well. The hatred runs very deep and that does not just disappear over night. Only Jesus' love will resolve this issue … There is wrong on both sides and there is destruction on both sides."

John Orkar, a development worker from Jos, Nigeria, who is currently on speaking tour in North America for the CRWRC (www.crwrc.org), reported in an email received by the home office Monday morning that fellow CRC staff members are safe.

CRWRC has released $10,000 in emergency funds to provide immediate aid to survivors displaced by the mayhem and arson in Jos. CRWRC staff in Jos are expected to request additional emergency relief funds early next week.

"The crisis in Jos is really bad," a CRWRC staff member there said early Sunday. "Estimates here are that hundreds of lives have been lost already. Thousands are displaced and have sought refuge in now-overcrowded public buildings -- police stations, army barracks, and hospitals, as well as with relatives and friends....The situation is not good."

Ron Geerlings, the West Africa director for CRWM, says the riot followed an election in the Jos area in which the political party supported by many Christians overwhelmingly won. "It is an issue of power," and some of it involves controlling the oil revenue coming from the oil-rich fields of the African nation.

Nigerian authorities reported Monday that more than 340 people are confirmed dead in the last three days of fighting in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, in Central Nigeria. Plateau State is home to numerous ethnic groups who dispute land ownership in addition to being placed on the front line between mostly Muslim northern Nigeria and the predominantly Christian south.

The agencies of the Christian Reformed Church in North America have had a presence in Nigeria since the 1920s. CRWM has more than 15 staff persons in Jos while CRWRC currently has about a half-dozen staff people located in Jos as well as other staff spread throughout the country. Back to God Ministries International also has staff in Nigeria and all of them are reported to be safe.

The agencies partner with many churches and Christian development organizations that have contributed to peace talks between rival ethnic and religious groups, including those in the Takum area, celebrated about a year ago with the 10-day Nigeria Peace Walk.

Several government officials condemned the violence as a political ploy disguised in a cloak of religious oppression. Some national officials called for calm, including Elder Statesman Solomon Lar, who assured victims that the country would "get to the root of it for a lasting solution."

In addition to the immediate relief assistance released over the weekend, CRWRC and Christian Reformed staff in Jos are meeting today to assess needs and coordinate further response with other relief and development agencies in the area. "Certainly," staff members say, "the need is great."

"We're still gathering information of what the losses were and what the relief needs are for the hundreds, if not thousands of refugees," says Geerlings, who lives in the Jos a couple months of the year when he is working in Nigeria. "It is serious and a real disappointment" what has happened, says Geerlings.

For more information on CRWRC's Nigeria response, phone Ken Little, CRWRC International Relief Program Manager, at 1-800-730-3490 or US Media Contact, Beth DeGraff, at 1-800-55-CRWRC or 616-648-7821.

Those wishing to contribute financially to "Nigeria Relief 2008" can give online at www.crwrc.org, phone a credit card gift to 1-800-55-CRWRC, or mail checks to CRWRC at 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49560-0600.

For further information contact CRWM in Michigan at 1-800-346-0075.