NAIROBI, Kenya — A Muslim couple and their adult son who converted to Christianity in November were burned to death on Dec. 26 in eastern Uganda, according to sources.
This attack came a year after hundreds of Christians were murdered “for sport” by violent Jihadists in Nigerian Christmastime slaughter.
Last month, on Nov. 22, Kaiga Muhammad, 64, his wife, Sawuya Kaiga, and their 26-year-old son, Swagga Amuza Kaiga, became Christians after members of a church visited their home in the Budini Nyanza area of Kaliro town, Kaliro District, and shared the Gospel.
The family’s conversion came after they prayed for Swagga, who had been battling malaria, the pastor of the church said.
“We prayed for the son, and immediately he was restored to good health,” the pastor said in a recent interview with Morning Star News.
“The three members of the family who gave their lives to Christ decided to keep their faith secret for fear of Muslims in the area, since Muhammad himself was a committee member in one of the mosques in Budini Nyanza zone.”
On Dec. 15, local Muslims reportedly saw Muhammad leaving a worship service in a nearby village and informed area chairperson Wangule Abudu, the pastor said.
The next day, Abudu confronted Muhammad at his home. Muhammad admitted that he and his family had converted to Christianity, the pastor said.
Abudu warned Muhammad to renounce Christianity within a week or face consequences, according to a family member who was not present when the family converted.
“Abudu said that our family had blasphemed the name of Allah and embarrassed the Muslim community,” the relative, whose name was withheld for security reasons, told Morning Star News.
On Dec. 26, area Muslims allegedly poured gasoline on the family’s home and set it on fire, killing the three inside, a neighbor said. The neighbor and others arrived too late to save them or the structure.
Kaliro police arrested Abudu, 62, and another suspect, Ismail Njagi, 20, on charges of murder and arson, sources said. Both were being held at Kaliro Central Police Station.
The victims’ bodies were taken to Bumanya Health Centre for postmortem examinations.
The attack is the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting Christians in Uganda, Morning Star News pointed out.
Although Uganda’s Constitution guarantees religious freedom, including the right to convert and share one’s faith, Christians in predominantly Muslim areas of eastern Uganda have faced increasing persecution. Muslims comprise no more than 12% of the country’s population.
