Nigeria

The day started out like any other school day for teacher Christianah Oluwatoyin Olusase. There was nothing to suggest thatanything out of the ordinary might happen, though as a Christian teacher in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria, she surelyunderstood the risk to her life that daily hovered. Still, Olusase took herwork seriously and was open about her faith. It was not a secret that shewas a Christian, and this is what eventually led to her death. It was time for an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam at the Government Day Secondary School in Gombe, Nigeria, where Olusase taught.As was her custom during any test, she collected the students’ bags, books, and papers, and set them aside for the girls to pick up after completing their tests. She then handed out the examination papers. Somewhere during this routine activity, one of the girls grew very upset and began spreading the word to the other students that a copy of the Koran—the Islamic holy book—had been in her bag. She supposedly didn’t agree with the way her teacher had handled it, and she accused Olusase of desecrating the Koran by touching it since she was a Christian. The other students in the all-girl class

“Release her to us!”“Release her or we will burn down the building!”“She deserves death!”By now the mob had fully surrounded the police station, and theirdemands for the officers to hand the woman over to them had grown toa deafening level. Several held rocks of various sizes in their hands, readyto release them at the first sight of the woman—the infidel—while othersheld clubs and sticks. The police had only moments ago found the bruised and bloodiedwoman and brought her into the station to protect her from Muslimextremists who were beating her with clubs and fists.Earlier that day, this unidentified woman had been evangelizing inthe streets of Izom, Nigeria. She had entered into a conversation withsome Muslim youths, sharing the Gospel and handing them some Christian literature to read. Her encounter had not gone unnoticed. Muslim elders standing nearby had seen the exchange and approachedthe youths to find out what she had told them. They were infuriated tolearn that she had shared the Gospel with them. They claimed she hadinsulted the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and they insisted that the woman be killed. Their rage and allegations incited hundreds of other Muslims to pour through the streets to track down the woman.