In early July, a Muslim mob reportedly murdered a Christian in Uganda by attacking him with sticks and stones. The deceased has been identified as Robert Bwenje and the two assailants have been identified as Ashirafu Kasamba and Kabagambe Kadiri. The Islamists had assaulted Bwenje and a pastor who was with him. The mob had also burned the copies of Bible, as per reports.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened on July 6 when Robert Bwenje had accompanied Assistant Pastor Ambrose Mugisha of Elim Pentecostal Church in Nyamiringa village, Kapeke Sub-County, Kiboga District to an ‘open-air debate’. The debate was about a comparison between Islam and Christianity, held in the Sirimula village of Kyankwanzi District.
Uganda: Muslims screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ ambush and beat Christians, burn Bibles, kill one Christian https://t.co/uMYHI82ZsP pic.twitter.com/9wRPnSoyi2
— Robert Spencer روبرت سبنسر रॉबर्ट स्पेंसर 🇺🇸 (@jihadwatchRS) August 3, 2022
During the debate, eight Muslims including two women were reportedly impressed by the arguments made by the evangelists and had agreed to accept Christianity by leaving Islam. Assistant Pastor Ambrose Mugisha has stated that the local Islamists were angered over the incident and had wanted to disrupt the event, but could not do anything because police security was provided for the same.
But as the duo returned from the conversion camp-cum ‘debate’, a Muslim mob appeared from bushes and led the attack on the two who were crossing a swamp. The mob raised slogans of ‘Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar’ and beat them with sticks and sharp weapons, as per reports. “They removed the Quran and then burned the rest of the books, including the Bibles, and then beat us with sticks”, said Pastor Mugisha to media later.
He added that he could only identify one assailant named Ashirafu Kasamba who attacked him on his head. “I then jumped into the water and managed to swim and cross to the other side”, he noted. Meanwhile, the Islamists continued to beat Bwenje in the middle of the swamp and fled from the spot leaving Bwenje bleeding in the water. Later a passerby spotted the victim as Christians and took them to the hospital where Bwenje succumbed to his injuries.
Pastor Godfrey Ssemujju of Elim Pentecostal Church who visited the duo at the hospital confirmed that Bwenje was 28-year-old and died at around 11 pm on July 10. The Police have reported the case and have arrested one of the accused Kasamba. They have charged him with attempted murder.
According to Pastor Mugisha who has survived the attack, the Islamists including Kasamba continue to threaten him giving him days to re-convert the eight Muslims that he had converted to Christianity earlier. “We are giving days to bring back the Muslims that you converted to Christianity. We know you are hiding them,” the Islamists had reportedly messaged on the Pastor’s phone.
The report mentions that several churches in Kiboga districts are being attacked by Islamists. Earlier on June 26, the Muslim extremists from Kindeke village attacked Pastor Baingana James, demolished his church building in Rwomuriro village, and threatened to kill him if he continued leading Muslims to Christianity. This is after Pastor James converted seven other Muslims to Christianity.
Pastor James stated that he had received a call from an Islamist named Sheikh Mwesigye Ja’afari who asked the Pastor to leave Kindeke village and return the seven converted Muslims. On not taking the threat seriously, the Islamists attacked him and his congregation while they were in the Church for their Sunday service.
