Oil giant Shell is being sued over oil spills in the Niger delta by communities which want Shell to clean up their land. Some of the claimants are the Ogale, a community of 40,000 farmers or fishermen living in Rivers State. The Bille community of fishermen are the other party suing. Neither community has had clean drinking water since the spills began in 1989. Their case is being handled by law firm Leigh Day, who point to a November 2015 report by Amnesty International in which Shell said four spill sites would be cleaned up. They are still contaminated. In 2011 the United Nations Environment Programme found water contaminated with oil by-products and recommended a clean-up. Pipelines are targets for thieves who steal crude oil and refine it locally, leading to more spills and damage through explosions. Shell dismisses any suggestion that it has knowingly continued to use unsafe pipelines, and says it is at an ‘early stage’ in reviewing the claims.

Pray: for Shell to clean up the area and implement a sustainable recovery programme. (Ex.23:6)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35701607

The world’s deadliest terrorist group is not in the Middle East, but in Nigeria, where the Islamist insurgency Boko Haram and other forces killed more than 4,000 Christians in 2015 - a 62% increase from 2014. In response, Nigeria's largest confederation of Christian churches is, for the first time, jointly endorsing a commitment to revive the Church in the country's north, before it collapses from a decade of violence that has killed thousands of Christians and driven away more than a million. Christians in the northern region have for long been abandoned to their own fate by the Nigerian authorities. ‘This is the first time we’re going public to sign a declaration which gives the true picture of the persecution Christians are going through in this country,’ said Rev Musa Asake.

Pray: for targeted violence, discrimination and marginalisation of Christians in northern Nigeria to be halted. Pray for the survival and growth of the Christian faith through unity. (Ps.10:17,18)
More: www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2016/02/4316008

There is a mixed bag of expectations and anxiety over what this new year holds for Nigeria. Yesterday’s excesses have come home to roost. Time and time again the issue of over- dependence on oil has been a hot topic, and many have said that the nation should look to other sectors such as agriculture and mineral resources also. The shell-shock of crashing oil prices has alarmed the government. 2016 will be an extremely tough year, though many hope it will bring change and an acceleration of meaningful development of other sectors of the economy. Currently over 80% of all government revenue derives from the sale of crude oil.

Pray: for the federal and state governments to work with the private sector for new streams of commerce and industry. (Col.3:23)
More: www.thisdaylive.com/articles/2016-from-change-to-reform/229489/

Last weekend, Boko Haram burned children alive in Nigeria, and IS bombed schoolchildren in Syria. Homes were reduced to piles of ashes and left smouldering in the Nigerian village of Dalori following a Boko Haram rampage. For four hours heavily armed gunmen and at least three suicide bombers attacked, setting much of the village aflame. Children were burned alive in their huts. Two nearby refugee camps were also attacked. Nigerian army troops arrived, but were outmanned and outgunned by terrorists. 3,000 miles away, IS detonated two suicide car bombs in a neighbourhood south of Damascus protected by Hezbollah. As people gathered to help dead and injured children, an IS terrorist wearing a suicide vest set off another blast. 45 were killed and 110 wounded.

Pray: for the Syrian peace talks to resume, and for all those contesting terror in Nigeria. (Ps.118:5)
More: www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=17485

Boko Haram slaughtered more than eighty people in a series of attacks the week after President Buhari suggested his army had ‘technically won the war.’ The Global Terror Report 2015 places Nigeria third on their list of 124 countries, and says that Boko Haram are ‘deadlier than IS, having killed more people’. Buhari had previously vowed to drive out the terror group from the country by December. He now suggests they have ‘technically’ been defeated as they revert to using improvised explosive devices and indoctrinating children. Meanwhile a refugee camp with 2,500 temporary homes for refugees fleeing Boko Haram now hosts close to one million. 2.5 million people have been internally displaced due to Boko Haram's various attacks. Reports suggest that women have been forced to carry out suicide bombings for the terrorists, who have become notorious for kidnapping thousands of women and girls from towns and villages.

Pray: for God to comfort the victims of violence and terrorism and help them to overcome fear. (Jn.16:33)
More: www.christianpost.com/news/boko-haram-slaughters-80-people-president-says-hes-won-the-war-against-terror-153643/

  1. The future Anglican Church - C of E Primates' gathering from 11 to 16 January
  2. Religious persecution at Christma
  3. Nigeria: blast in Nigeria kills 32, wounds 80
  4. Nigerian troops rescue over 330 women and children held by Boko Haram

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