“The Copts of Naga’a Rizq, Tahta, had to pray outdoors in spite of the cold air and the coming of Christmas, as the police were unable to protect them from Islamists’ attacks.”
Such was the message Dr. Naguib Ghobrail, President of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights, shared on December 14 with the Minister of Interior General Mohamed Ibrahim, in an effort to alert him to the persecution of the region’s Christians, who are restricted from church worship.
He added that “the population of Naga’a Rizq Shenuda, which belongs to the Tahta Police Precinct in the Sohag Security Directorate, had made a request for the building of a church back in 2009. The construction started but was stopped by state security because of violence from radical Islamists. As a result, villagers were forced to pray in home churches.”
The human rights activist explained that on November 11, the ceiling of one of those home churches collapsed so worshipers built a tent to protect themselves from the elements. However, a group of Muslim Brotherhood terrorists pressured security to remove the draperies and prevent Christians from praying.