Muslim extremists in eastern Uganda killed a pastor Oct. 26 because of his refusal to “remove”
his church building, Morning Star News reported.
Pastor Stephen Lugwire, who lived in a predominantly Muslim area of the country, was tending
to his sheep around 6:30 p.m. with his young adult daughter, Brenda Lugwire, when three men
dressed in Islamic attire approached, brandishing weapons and shouting.
‘Today you will face the wrath from Allah’
One of the men accused the father of not removing or destroying the church building, where
Lugwire’s congregation had met for two years. The building stands in close proximity to a
mosque. Lugwire was also accused of being an infidel, who had harmed the religion of Allah, the
daughter reported.
“Today you will face the wrath from Allah,” one of the assailants told the pastor, according to
his daughter. The attackers then assaulted the pastor with a large stick and slashed him with a
knife. The daughter fled and reported the attack to her family. The pastor’s body was discovered
the next day.
Although the attackers have not been arrested, police have arrested one Muslim woman in a
home where the assailants reportedly fled following the attack.
Growing tensions
Two days after Lugwire’s funeral, congregation members destroyed the area mosque and other
Muslims’ properties, Morning Star News reported, worsening area tensions.
The murder was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that
Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to
propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12
percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country,
according to Morning Star News.
