Muslims Aim to End Televangelism

While several Nigerian Muslims have converted as a result of a regional evangelistic outreach by the Christian Broadcasting Network, other Muslims are actively seeking to stop the telecasts from airing in other parts of the country.

Popular artists, athletes, and professors gave testimonies on WorldReach Nigeria, which aired the first week in December. Around 2,000 churches in Nigeria supported the effort.

However, Muslim leaders have succeeded in stopping the telecast in the Sokoto, Kano, Maiduguri, and Kebbi States in northern Nigeria.

Muslim leader Usman Jibrin, a former military governor of Kaduna State, warned that Muslims will not tolerate the shows because they are “against Islam.” Several sheiks have claimed the show is deliberately aimed at fomenting religious crises.

Death threats have been received by some Muslims who have made Christian commitments. Also, the WorldReach Nigeria staff and some Christians at Nigerian television stations have been threatened in connection with their evangelism.

“Some of the participants in WorldReach have suffered harassment, assault, and intimidation for their faith,” says pastor Ina Omakwu, director of WorldReach Nigeria. Saidu Dogo, secretary-general of the Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella association for denominations, says the government must help “resist the pressures being mounted by Muslims to retard the propagation of other religions in the guise of peace and security.”