A Ugandan family who converted from Islam to Christianity was burned to death in their homes by local Muslims, Morning Star News reports.
On Nov. 22, Christians from an undisclosed church visited Kaiga Muhammad’s home, located in Kaliro town, east Uganda—a heavily Muslim area. Muhammad, 64, had been a committee member of a Budini Nyanza mosque and lived with his wife, Sawuya Kaiga, and son, Swagga Amuza Kaiga, 26.
The family members each accepted Christ as their Savior when church members shared the Gospel with them. After the family requested prayer for Swagga, who was suffering from malaria, the family witnessed another work of God.
The church’s pastor recalled the moment in a Morning Star News interview, saying, “We prayed for the son, and immediately he was restored to good health.”
Knowing militant Ugandan Muslims often target Christian converts, the family chose to keep their conversion private.
But on Dec. 15, Muslims in the area caught Muhammad exiting a church service in a village nearby. The region’s area chairperson, Wangule Abudu, was informed of the news. He visited Muhammad’s house and questioned him. Muhammad affirmed that he and his family were followers of Christ. According to a family member, Abudu warned Muhammad that if his family did not renounce Christianity within a week, he would assemble the Muslim community to act against them.
The family refused to renounce their faith.
On Dec. 26, local Muslims used gas to set their house on fire. The family was burned beyond recognition, according to a neighbor who reached the scene too late to rescue them.
Sources stated that law enforcement arrested Abudu and another man and held them in a police station on charges of murder and arson.
Although only 12% of Ugandans are Muslim, reports of Ugandan Muslims killing Muslims who convert to Christianity are increasing. On Dec. 16, Muslims killed a father who fled for his life, due to death threats sparked by his Christian conversion. On Oct. 13, a pastor, his wife and two daughters, 7 and 4, were killed by an Islamist mob after a pastor shared the Gospel with three Muslims who converted to Christianity. Later that month, an Islamist mob used swords and iron bars to kill an evangelist and a Christian who had led 18 Muslims to Christ.
On Open Doors World Watch List 2024, Uganda was the 70th most dangerous country for Christians but ranks as the country with the fifth-highest number of Christians killed for their faith. Uganda tied with four other countries as fourth-highest in overall violence while ranking sixth in the number of abductions. An estimated 1,000 Ugandans experienced beatings and death threats due to their faith last year, and around 100 Christians reported being forced to flee their homes or hide.
Photo: Alamy