Ten Nigerians died in an illegal boat because of their faith

Two passengers blamed the evangelicals for the bad weather, and they beat, robbed and threw them into the sea.

Evangelical Focus

  · Translated by Belén Díaz

El País, Protestante Digital · MADRID · 17 JANUARY 2015 · 13:40 CET

Many immigrants try to enter in Spain in illegal boats / 20minutos.es,
Many immigrants try to enter in Spain in illegal boats / 20minutos.es

The journey of a group of immigrants who tried to reach the Spanish coast from Morocco, finished tragically last December. According to the police investigation, between seven and ten immigrants died, after being beaten, robbed, and thrown into the sea. The fight took place in a boat that transported around 50 people, but only 29 succeeded in reaching the coast of Almeria, Spain.

The local authorities have detained two Cameroonian men who are accused of attacking their colleagues for religious reasons.

The boat departed from Nador, Morocco, to Spain,on December 3rd. During the trip, there was a terrible storm and some of the passengers, who were Christians, and among whom there was a Nigerian pastor, started to pray.

According to the witnesses, everybody was scared of sinking with their nerves on edge inside the boat . When two Cameroonian passengers saw the others praying, they blamed the Christians for the bad weather and started to beat them with the boards that covered the hull of the boat. After the fight, they threw the pastor and the other Nigerian passenger overboard. 

The boat finally arrived at the Spanish coast, where the immigrants were attended to by the Local Red Cross and brought to the Foreign Internment Centre. Once they were there, the rest of the witnesses denounced what had happened on the boat, and the Cameroonian passengers were detained. They had not only beaten and murdered the pastor and the other Christians, but also robbed them of 1,500 euros.

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