A briefing on the crisis in Nigeria planned for Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 1 p.m. in the Methodist Building (100 Maryland Ave, NE) in Washington, D.C., is co-sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Office of Public Witness, the Islamic Society of North America, and the National Council of Churches, USA.
“Join us to support and learn from an interfaith delegation from the region,” said an invitation from the Office of Public Witness. The briefing will feature an interfaith delegation that has connections with Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). The group will include EYN member and leader Zakaria Bulus.
Bulus lives in Borno State, Nigeria. He was born in 1977 in Nigeria and is married. He is the former EYN national youth chairman and has been the youth coordinator of the African Continental Assembly of Mission 21. Presently he is the church secretary of the local congregation of Maiduguri, the largest congregation of the Brethren in Nigeria, as well as a committee (board) member of the EYN peace program. In addition to his education in marketing (business), he has completed a theological basic education through distance learning, and has completed numerous ecclesiastic continuing education courses. He is a member of the International Management Academy (IMA) and Institute of Practicing Professionals in Nigeria (IPPN) and has a number of short course certificates in Project Management and M&E for development workers.
For many years there have been tensions and violence in northeastern Nigeria. In recent months the extremist group Boko Haram has been advancing through the region, taking over entire towns and villages, kidnapping children, killing people, and destroying buildings, including churches. Both Christians and Muslims have been killed, and thousands of Nigerians from both religions have been driven from their homes in the northeast. This includes many members of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN).
For more information contact Nathan Hosler, director of the Office of Public Witness, at nhosler@brethren.org