Kenyan Christians headed to Easter services amid heightened security. Many feared that they might become the targets of the sort of brutal massacre at a university last week that singled out Christians. On Thursday, masked al-Shabab gunmen killed 150 at Garissa University College in the deadliest attack since the United States Embassy bombing in 1998.
“We are very concerned about the security of our churches and worshippers, especially this Easter period, and also because it is clear that these attackers are targeting Christians,” Willybard Lagho, the head of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics and a Mombasa-based Catholic priest told Reuters.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to respond to the bloody rampage in Garissa “in the severest way possible” and called for three days of mourning for the victims.
In a televised address, he called for unity and stressed his belief that “Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.”
Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based militant group which claimed responsibility for the attack, vowed to make Kenyan cities “run with blood.”
“No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath from occurring in your cities,” militants said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
While the Islamist militant group has a long record of killing Muslims in the past, Christians feel especially threatened after members of their community were identified by al-Shabab gunmen and then shot at Garissa University College. Christians make up more than 80 percent of the Kenyan population.
Churches across the country have hired armed police and private security in an effort to protect Easter services from militant attacks. In Nairobi, guards frisked worshippers and checked beneath their cars for explosives. Worshippers evacuated a church in Mombasa, and called in a bomb disposal unit to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked outside the church.
“Everyone is anxious and you never know what will happen next, but we believe the biggest protector is God and we are praying,” Samuel Wanje, a 27-year-old churchgoer, said.
Fears ran especially high in Garissa which is reeling from the attack last week — and which has seen deadly militant attacks on churches in recent years.
“We just keep on praying that God can help us, to comfort us in this difficult time,” Dominick Odhiambo told the AP.
He works as a plumber in Garissa, but said that he planned to abandon the job and the city because of fears of additional attacks.
Bishop Joseph Allesandro thanked his congregation for attending Easter mass despite their fears and drew a connection between the hardships Jesus Christ faced, which Christians commemorate during Easter.
“We join the sufferings of the relatives and the victims with the sufferings of Jesus,” he said. “The victims will rise again with Christ.”
Pope Francis prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in Easter services offered at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square.
“May constant prayer rise up from all people of goodwill for those who lost their lives — I think in particular of the young people who were killed last Thursday at Garissa University College in Kenya — for all who have been kidnapped, and for those forced to abandon their homes and their dear ones,” he told the thousands of worshippers in attendance.
“Having courage as a Christian, we just have that faith with coming to church,” Roseline Oduor, a Garissa resident, told the AP. “We have gone through what Jesus went through.”
For her, the fear is real. Her own church has been attacked by militants in the past.
“When the day comes, you cannot run away from death, whether under a tree, in bed, anywhere,” she said.