A religious freedom advocate and Christian journalist in Nigeria was being held without charges and incommunicado after soldiers arrested him at a military hospital, where relatives attacked by Fulani gunmen were receiving treatment, sources told Morning Star News.
Lawrence Zongo, a journalist with Truth Nigeria and a volunteer with Amnesty International, was arrested at a health facility of the Nigerian Army in Jos, where a cousin had earlier succumbed to injuries from the Fulani attack, according to Truth Nigeria.
‘Processing the loss’
“One of the victims — a first cousin — had died by the time Zongo arrived late Monday morning,” Truth Nigeria reported. “Sources say while he was still processing the loss, soldiers arrested him and held him incommunicado. His only ‘offense,’ sources allege, was being a rights activist who visited the barracks wearing Ray-Ban glasses.”
Military authorities were denying Zongo, a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), access to lawyers and family, reported the outlet, operated by U.S.-based aid agency Equipping The Persecuted.
“He had gone to the hospital at Maxwell Khobe Cantonment (Rukuba Barracks), HQ of 3 Division, to assist his cousins attacked Sunday night in Miango, Bassa LGA,” Truth Nigeria stated.
The Christians receiving treatment at the military hospital were reportedly attacked in their homes by Fulani gunmen on Oct. 4, and military personnel who went to the scene of the incident had taken them to their hospital. Zongo had gone to the hospital to assist the wounded when soldiers arrested him.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
