Good evening and welcome to your weekly briefing. As WBN News Watch, I am Chim. Thanks for joining us tonight. I missed multiple accounts of gun violence and mass shootings in the United States. A church in Northern Virginia gave thanks to God after an off-duty police officer stopped a potential mass shooting with just moments to spare. Late last month, an off-duty policeman who works as a security guard at Park Valley arrested 35-year-old R Jang after getting a police alert following a call from a concerned citizen. Heavily armed, Jang was arrested in the church with members already gathered for the Sunday morning service. Police say Jang had a loaded handgun, an extra magazine, and two knives before his arrest. Jang allegedly posted threatening messages on social media right from the church parking lot earlier that morning. The message prompted a woman in Maryland to call the police. In response to the development, Fox County Police Chief Kevin Davis said, “What she saw concerned her enough to call the police department and say, ‘Hey, I think something really bad is going to happen.’” Officers first went to Jang’s home and discovered he was not there. Then they broadcast a call to respond to the church. Davies went on to say, “This was a double plot to kill churchgoers in Haymarket, Virginia. We put our hands on him literally in the nick of time.” Authorities believe he did not know anyone in the congregation, but they discovered a manifesto with disturbing writings at his home. Moreover, Pastor Barry White told CNN that Jang had worshiped at the church over the summer. However, they are still trying to figure out the connection as to why he chose their church. White says he’s thankful to God for his protection. In his words, “As bad as it was, it was a victory. Somebody saw something and said something. Then you had all these police organizations that worked flawlessly together. I believe God had a hand on us. This kind of events don’t normally play out this way.” Jang was charged with threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon in a place of religious worship.
In our previous edition of the SWB News Watch, we told you how a church in the United States is exploring artificial intelligence to stop gunmen in their tracks. This time around, a church in Texas has used CH GPT to design and conduct an entire church service for the first time. According to Premier Christian News, the Violet Crown City Church in Austin, Texas, enlisted the help of an AI chat program, CH GPT, to craft every aspect of their worship experience, including the order of prayers, choice of songs, and even asking it to compose an original song tied to the sermon. The church’s Pastor Jay Cooper started the service on Sunday by reading out the prompt he had given to CH GPT. He had asked CH GPT to create a Sunday morning service for a church that values sharing life and belonging to one another, inclusivity for all, working for justice, and following in the way of Jesus. Pastor Jay shared that initially, the chat had produced just a 15-minute service, and he had to give more prompts to beef up the results, acknowledging that there was still some human elements necessary to create today’s service. Reflecting on the service, one church attendee told a local US network that he was able to worship but felt the service ultimately lacked the human touch. The attendee said, “I’m not sure that AI can express the emotions of love, kindness, and empathy. I think that we must practice love and express it, not only feel it.” The church advertised the service as a one-time experiment, reassuring congregants that it wasn’t something to be repeated but said, “We believe it’s a worthy untimely experiment in an ever-changing world, especially with the rise of AI.”
Now, on religious freedom, we have an update on Leah Sharibu, the Christian schoolgirl who was kidnapped and held hostage since 2018. Multiple media sources in Nigeria reported that Leah Sharibu, who has now spent 5 years in captivity with terrorists, has reportedly married another ISWAP commander after abandoning the first husband she was forcefully married to. Local security sources made this revelation in a report by Daily Trust. Recall that Sharibu was one of the 110 female pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, who were abducted on February 19th, 2018 by the Boko Haram terrorists. Since then, she has been held in captivity by members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). A few years ago, it was reported by some media houses that the Dapchi girl was married off. Vanguard newspaper reported that after the purported divorce from one Abdur-Rahman, it was gathered that Leah was remarried to another ISWAP commander in the Lake Chad area named Ali Abdallah. One of the security sources said Leah was first married to Abdur-Rahman after she allegedly converted to Islam, and they have two children, two boys, that were named after two Boko Haram commanders that were killed. The source added that they didn’t know what transpired, but Leah secured the divorce and married another commander, Ali Abdallah. The source also added that she was trained as a medical personnel and now leads the ISWAP medical team in the northern part of the Lake Chad area. One of the antics of terrorists in the Northeast is forcing their captives with expertise in some areas like medicine, nursing, engineering, and computer literacy, among others, to train their members in such areas. Another source said 10 days ago, Leah, her supposed husband, and other fighters were cited at Doro Chukun Kangara, adding that her husband is a commander under ISWA, but they are facing persecution from Boko Haram commanders loyal to Shekau. Reacting to this development, US-based human rights lawyer and activist Emmanuel Ogebe wrote in a Facebook post that a bed spouse can look at a bride’s picture and remember better days passed, but not the sex slave who never chose abduction. This is a story of Nigerians. We didn’t choose this. Stealing Nigeria President Buhari sparked controversy when he proposed to construct special settlements for nomadic Fulani herdsmen blamed for mass village raids and displacements across several states. Truth Nigeria reported the story. Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the proposal on the 12th of September this year. The proposal came under fire, with critics arguing that it could legitimize land grabs and oppose Islamic dominance, particularly in states like Benue, which has been severely affected by Fulani attacks. According to US-based Nigerian human rights attorney Emmanuel Ogebe, there are more than 2 million displaced persons in Benue State, with thousands of homes destroyed and many more dead as a result of attacks launched by Fulani terrorists. Ogebe, who is also the leader of the US Nigeria Law Group, added that giving Benue lands to the Fulani would amount to an attempt to change the religious and ethnic composition of the state to favor imported Fulani in Nigeria. Fulani herdsmen have been held responsible for numerous genocidal massacres, resulting in six times more deaths compared to those attributed to Boko Haram. And this is according to the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust. Senator Mara Simon Mangan, a member of the Nigerian Senate who spoke to Truth Nigeria, said that the attacks are aimed at occupying lands and forcefully imposing Islam on the people. Hence, Truth Nigeria ordered that the proposal to build 1,000 houses worth more than $64 million for the Fulani in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, and Benue states as part of efforts to address bandit attacks on local communities are unwelcome. Emmanuel Ogebe, a human rights lawyer, argued that the Buhari administration should resettle those displaced, rebuild houses, and restore farmlands rather than build houses for Fulani who are guilty of crimes involved in genocide in Benue State. For Christians in Nigeria, it’s not about to get easier. So please, just keep praying. No matter how tough it gets, we can always trust God to make a way for us. Dear viewer, this is where we wrap up for tonight. Thank you for staying with us until now. We hope to see you next Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Until then, I’m Chima. Stay hopeful. Bye.
