Mother of Seven Wounded, Loses Family for Becoming Christian

A mother of seven children in eastern
Uganda suffered serious wounds and is cut off
from her family after her husband and other
Muslim relatives attacked her on Easter
Sunday for putting her faith in Christ, sources
said.

Salimati Naibira, 37, of Bukoba B village,
Mayuge District, lost consciousness after her
husband cut her with a dagger known as a
Somali sword in the thigh and back on April 4
as she attended a worship service for the first
time in the area, she said. She had converted
from Islam to Christianity three days prior.
Naibira said she was on her way to the church
service when she met her brother-in-law,
Ahirafu Kowa, who asked her where she was
going. He likely became suspicious after she
told him she was going to visit a friend, she
said.
One hour into the worship service, Naibira said,
she saw through a window that her husband
and other relatives were approaching.
“I saw my husband, Ayubu Kairu, and some
family members enter the church gate shouting
‘ Allah Akbar [jihadist slogan ‘God is greater’],’”
Naibira told Morning Star News. “The church
members took off from church worship to save
their lives.”
The Muslim relatives entered the church
building with sticks and the Somali sword.
Naibira said the pastor and some church elders
tried to protect her but were overpowered, and
the assailants forced her into a van and drove
her to a nearby forest.
“They started beating me with sticks, then my
husband cut me with the Somali sword at the
thigh and the back,” she said. “I regained
consciousness only after several hours.”
A passing herdsman found her lying in a pool
of blood at about 3 p.m., and he and others
took the still unconscious Naibira to a clinic in
nearby Kityerera town.

On April 5 hospital staff members managed to
make contact with a Christian friend of Naibira,
and on April 8 she picked her up from the
hospital. At this writing Naibira was at an
undisclosed location recovering from wounds
on her face, thigh and back.
On April 1 Naibira had been visiting the friend’s
workplace in Kaluuba town, telling her how
doctors had not been able to give her any relief
from heavy menstrual bleeding for four years,
she said. A Christian evangelist arrived, told
her about Christ and asked if he could pray for
them, Naibira said.
“I shared with him the fear which had
tormented me of the flow of blood that had
troubled me for four years,” she said. “He said
that Jesus is a healer, and that with Him all
things are possible. As he prayed for me, I felt
something like an electric power touched my
body.”
The evangelist also prayed for the needs of her
friend, unidentified for security reasons.
Hearing that God’s love was revealed in
Christ’s sacrifice for sins, Naibira received Him
as Lord and Savior, she said. The evangelist
told her to visit any nearby church for
fellowship and to celebrate the resurrection of
Christ on Easter Sunday, April 4.
“Before leaving my friend, I was full of joy,”
Naibira said. “At night I got a dream of
watching a film of Jesus crucified on the
cross.”
She awoke with a feeling of excitement, and the
issue of blood had stopped, she said.
Naibira said she does not see how she can
gain custody of her children, who range in age
from 4 to 17 years old. She said she cannot
return home.
“I hope my children are safe,” she said.
The assault 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.