The US government on Thursday honoured a Nigerian imam, who saved 262 Christians from killer herdsmen by hiding them in his mosque and home.
The 83-year-old Imam Abubakar Abdullahi was feted with the International Religious Freedom Award in absentia alongside four others from Cyprus, Sudan, Brazil and Iraq according to a video shared by the U.S. State Department on Twitter
Abdullahi saved the Christians in Barkin Ladi area of Plateau state in central Nigeria who were running away from the killers during the June 2018 crisis in the state.
More than 80 people were killed in the attack that targeted Christians in the area, and the number could have been more were it not for the imam’s intervention.
The imam had told the BBC earlier that he wanted to help because more than 40 years ago the Christians in the area had allowed the Muslims to build a mosque.
Speaking at the ceremony, the U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, commended the heroic efforts of the freedom advocates as he said “I’m especially honoured tonight to share the stage with the men and women who have demonstrated how much each one of us is capable of in advancing this noble shared cause.
