Muslims in eastern Uganda beat an evangelist on Friday (Sept. 20), leaving him hospitalized with head injuries and a broken hand, sources said.
Robertson Eriot, 41, and fellow evangelist Kefa Mukisa were visiting homes outside of Busia town, seat of the district of the same name, and stopped at the home of an Islamic leader identified as Sheikh Kalimu on the Busia-Kampala road at about 4:30 p.m., Mukisa said.
After they requested permission to enter the homestead, the watchman opened the gate and let them in, and they began sharing the gospel with him, Mukisa said.
“Sheikh Kalimu who was inside the house heard our conversation – he was angered and came out furiously,” Mukisa, 25, told Morning Star News. “He ordered his boys and other Muslims who had come for Islamic fellowship to come out of the room and to discipline us.”
Kalimu shouted, “These are Christians who are out to convert our people to a wrong religion,” according to Mukisa, adding that immediately a number of people came out of the house shouting the jihadist slogan, “Allah Akbar [God is greater].”
“Since the gate was closed, we decided to jump over the fence,” Mukisa said. “I managed to jump over the fence and took off. Unfortunately, Eriot was caught up before he was able to escape over the fence.”
Mukisa said he began shouting for help, and local council leaders and neighbors arrived.
“We entered the homestead, and we found Eriot half-dead in a pool of blood,” he said. “We were able to rush him to the nearby clinic for treatment. Eriot suffered deep head injuries, a fractured left hand and bruises near the thigh of his right leg. He could have been hit with a blunt object and possibly a sharp object.”
They reported the attack to authorities and were waiting for them to act, he said.
Eriot’s wife, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he is still recuperating at a hospital in Busia.
“This is a very difficult time for me in supporting the family, especially food and to get money for paying medical charges for my husband in the hospital,” she said, weeping. “I know it will take a long period for my husband to be in the hospital.”
The couple have six children ranging in age from 7 to 19.
The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
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