Nigerian pastor jailed for illegal arms possession

KANO – A court in northern Nigeria’s Bauchi State has jailed a pastor for illegal possession of firearms in a region notorious for sectarian violence, a court clerk said yesterday.

Pentecostal pastor John Nadrew, 46, was given three years and eight months after security agents found an AK-47 rifle and five pistols in his house in Dot village during a raid last month.He was convicted on two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms and criminal conspiracy, Mohammad Ibrahim of Bauchi magistrate’s court told AFP. The pastor later told a state radio that he had kept the weapons for self-defence following a series of sectarian attacks in the area.Sectarian unrest between predominant Muslims and Christian minorities is common in Bauchi and Jos, its neighbour in central Plateau State.Last April, a Muslim mob killed a pastor and his wife in the village of Boto in predominantly Christian Tafawa Balewa district of Bauchi state. – Nampa-AFP