When a rubber dinghy carrying around 100 African refugees across the Mediterranean began to sink, a Nigerian Christian prayed for his life in an innocent act that would end in the deaths of 12 fellow migrants. One of the Muslims on board the rickety craft ordered him to stop, saying:
'Here, we only pray to Allah.' When he refused, a violent fight ensued and 12 Christians drowned when they were thrown overboard by the Muslim refugees.
The tragic news comes amid reports that an unprecedented 10,000 refugees fleeing war and persecution in Africa have been rescued by Italian ships in the past week. But over 900 making the perilous journey have either died or gone missing since the start of the year and 400 migrants died in two shipwrecks last week.
Those who witnessed the African Christians being murdered on the crammed dinghy told investigators how Nigerian Muslims became angry at Christian who started praying.
'They told him that they would throw him overboard if he didn't stop praying to God. They started shouting, two pushed the lad and he fell in the sea and drowned. The Muslims 'went mad' and began screaming "Allah is great" before they attacked migrants who tried to defend the boy.' he said, according to
La Republica.
When 12 migrants were mercilessly thrown overboard, the other Christians formed a human chain and protected themselves against the attackers by clinging to the dinghy. A rescue ship arrived one hour later, according to a Ghanaian witness called Yeboah. Italian police arrested 15 people suspected of the killing including Ousmane Camar from the Ivory Coast.
Culled from: DailyMail
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