A major Muslim company, Education Vision, plans to take over a Christian school in Sudan. Christian teachers have been accused of obstructing the Islamic takeover of the school and were arrested by authorities. Here is the report on this persecution:
On March 27, police in Omdurman arrested Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church leaders Rev. Idris Karntina and an elder known as Younan who were accused of obstructing the takeover of the school by a Muslim-owned business Education Vision. They later arrested 10 other staff members of the SPEC-owned Evangelical School of Sudan and only released the Christians in the evening, Morning Star News details.
The next morning, police came to ESS together with National Intelligence and Security Services officers and prevented the Christian teachers from leaving the premises. This included the headmaster. The teachers, who were all members of SPEC, prayed inside until they were finally allowed to leave in the evening. The church's moderator, Rev. Yahia Abdelrahim Nalu, said they expect the arrests to persist.
At present, SPEC is being led by government-appointed committee members although the appointments were deemed illegal by a court in November last year. According to school personnel, ESS is still being run as a Christian School but Education Vision is constantly interrupting the classes.
In February, NISS agents ordered Rev. Mubarak Hamad, the Chairman of Sudan Council of Churches, not to speak in public about the persecution they are facing and the ongoing church demolitions unless he is allowed to do so. The warning came after the council held a press conference to call on the government to hold off the demolitions, Radio Tamazuj reports.
Sudan plans to destroy at least 25 churches that it says are standing on illegal properties. However, church officials contend that they hold title deeds for the lands and that the properties were obtained through legal processes.
Sudan is currently on the fifth spot of Open Doors' 2017 World Watch List of the worst persecutors of Christians. The situation for believers has grown worse after South Sudan's secession in July 2011. Back then, President Omar al-Bashir promised a stricter implementation of shariah law.
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