CHANGING ATTITUDE NIGERIA NEWS

Nigerians threaten English and Nigerian Directors of Changing Attitude

Thursday, 10 April 2008

The following news item was first posted here on 24 March 2008, but removed from the site together with two other reports about events in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. We were advised that the reports placed the leaders of the Port Hacourt group at greater risk of threat and violence. The report was published before death threats were received by Colin Coward on Wednesday 26 March and David Macv-Iyalla was attacked on Sunday 30 March. The Port Harcourt leader is now in hiding in a safe refuge.

Report from Monday 24 March 2008
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has stepped up its campaign against Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) and England. Davis Mac-Iyalla, Director of CAN, received a text message threatening his life on Holy Saturday, 22 March. The Reverend Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England, received an intimidating text on Easter Monday, 24 March.

The text message to Davis Mac-Iyalla was sent from a cell phone in Nigeria: 002347083455156.

The message read:
“Davis Mac-Iyalla you refused to repent and leave homosexuality and now we will wipe you out and your homo friends out now. If Nigeria is too small for you to hid. Togo will be easier to get you. Prepare your soul to go to hell because we are coming to send you there.”

The Reverend Colin Coward received a text from a different Nigerian cell phone: 002348070758712

This text message read:
“evil homosexual promoter, we gave your nigerian homosexual representative and his followers long time to repent but he underrated us. now we are going and nothing will stop us. we are not mere boosters we mean every words but keep encouraging them to pollute our country with abomination and immorality . come and save them if you can”

These texts have been received following the events in Port Harcourt on Maundy Thursday when the co-leader of the Changing Attitude group was savagely beaten in an attack outside the compound where the funeral ceremony for the sister of Davis Mac-Iyalla was taking place. There is a relationship between the attack in Port Harcourt and the threats

The matter has been reported to the police in the UK who are taking the threatened violence against members of Changing Attitude seriously and have referred it to Special Branch for further investigation.

News update
Davis Mac-Iyalla was attacked on Sunday morning, 30 March 2008, near the post office in Lome. He had travelled there on the back of a motorbike, and doesn’t know if he had been followed from his flat. There were many witnesses to what happened. Two men and a woman in a car drove up. One of the men got out, approached Davis and called him brother in English. He asked Davis for his passport and Davis said he didn’t have one. He then asked Davis who is his contact in Abuja and Davis said he didn’t have a contact. He then asked if Davis could give them the documents and Davis said What documents?

At that moment the man produced a knife and slashed Davis’s hand, and then a syringe with which the man tried to inject Davis. Davis managed to defend himself and knock the syringe away. The man ran back to the car and the three drove off. Davis retrieved the syringe, took it to the police station and reported the attack. The police analysis of the contents of the syringe is awaited. Davis then went to the hospital where his hand was dressed. He was given a strong sedative and went the house of lesbian friends to recover in safety.

He remained incommunicado until Saturday 5 April 2008, fearing for his safety and his life. Both Davis and the Port Harcourt leader report that unknown men seeking them have been witnessed at their respective homes. Those people in the UK close to Davis became increasingly fearful for his safety in the 6 days when we were unable to make contact with him. We were not prepared to publish news of the attack until we had made contact with Davis and received confirmation from him that his own safety would not be further compromised by publishing a report.

The Reverend Colin Coward and Davis Mac-Iyalla have both received further text messages. The message received by Colin Coward on 27 March 2008, sent from 002348080923751, which initiated the Special Branch investigation said:
“You will loose ur life for what u re doing go and write todays date u have few days to live”

Telephone 01380 724908
E-mail office@changingattitude.org

This page was last updated on Monday, 18 August 2008