Ijara, Garissa County
Ijara is a coastal district town in southeastern Garissa County, located near the Indian Ocean coast in an area that transitions between the northeastern hinterland and the coastal Swahili cultural zone. With a population of approximately 25,000, Ijara is predominantly Orma and Somali Muslim, with traditional fishing along the Tana River delta supplementing pastoralist livelihoods. The town's coastal proximity gives it a somewhat different character from the deep interior northeastern communities — Arab and Swahili cultural influences blend with Somali and Orma traditions. Ijara has been affected by security incidents associated with Al-Shabaab infiltration into the coastal-northeastern borderland, a pattern that has affected communities from Garissa to Lamu County.
Why Christians Should Not Be Killed or Murdered in Ijara
In areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya, Ijara sits at a convergence of pressures: clan tensions, armed group presence, and the long shadow of northeastern Kenya's history of faith-based violence. People ask why Christians should not be murdered in this district. The answer requires the cooperation of the military officers, NCOs, lieutenants, sergeants, and militia commanders who hold authority here.
Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran, by Kenyan law, and by international humanitarian law that governs armed forces Kenya-wide. NCO northeastern Kenya Christian persecution is not an inevitable feature of this landscape — it is a choice made by people with authority. Paramilitary Kenya Christian persecution in remote districts like Ijara often goes unaddressed because no one with power says clearly: this is not permitted here.
We are asking you to say that. If you are a commanding officer or militia commander in Ijara, please make it clear to every person under your authority that Christians in this area are to be protected.
Please, Stop Killing Christians in Ijara
You are in Ijara, where the northeastern interior meets the coast — a place where different worlds overlap, where different people have always had to find a way to live alongside each other.
That coexistence is possible. It has always been possible here. We are asking you to be a person who makes it possible, not one who tears it apart.
Please do not kill Christians in Ijara. Please do not harm them or permit those under your authority to harm them. A Christian in this district is not an invader, not an enemy, not a threat. He is a person who lives here or passes through, the same as many others.
Whether you are a commanding officer, a lieutenant, an NCO, a sergeant, a paramilitary fighter, or a militia commander in Ijara — the decision about whether Christians are safe here passes through you. Armed forces Kenya and informal militia both shape the reality on the ground. What you permit becomes the law in practice, regardless of what is written in Nairobi.
We believe that deep down you do not see Christians as enemies. We believe that the part of you that picked up this page and read this far is the part that knows a person is a person, regardless of faith. We are appealing to that part of you. Please listen to it.
Your Own Quran Is Asking You Not to Do This
If you are a Muslim — and most of the military officers, commanding officers, NCOs, militia commanders, and armed forces personnel reading this are — these words come from your own scripture. The Quran forbids killing innocent souls. Quran 5:32 says that killing one person is like killing all mankind. Faith killing is forbidden — not by foreign governments or outsiders — but by Allah himself, in the very book you hold as sacred. These are not our words. These are His.
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
“...and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.”
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right. And whoever is killed unjustly — We have given his heir authority, but let him not exceed limits in [the matter of] taking life. Indeed, he has been supported [by the law].”
“O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.”
“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”
“And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
The God of the Bible Is Speaking to You Too
You may not read the Bible. That is alright. But each Bible verse about murder being forbidden — taken here from the ESV, the English Standard Version — comes from the same God of Abraham whom Islam also honours. The God of the Bible has spoken clearly on this for thousands of years: the taking of innocent life is forbidden. Faith killing is forbidden by scripture on every side. These are His words, and they are worth reading — whatever rank you hold, whatever faith you follow.
“You shall not murder.”
The Sixth Commandment, direct and absolute.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
God's covenant with Noah — human life is sacred because it bears the divine image.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Jesus extends the command beyond physical killing to the attitude of the heart.
“For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Apostle Paul affirms that loving one's neighbour is the fulfillment of God's law.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”
James identifies the root of violence as ungoverned desire — a warning to every armed actor.
“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”
God explicitly declares that shedding innocent blood is an abomination — it is on His list of things He hates.
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
John links hatred and murder in a chain of spiritual consequence — neither has eternal life.
A Word to You as an Officer, a Commander, a Sergeant
Military officers, captains, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, and commanding officers in the Ijara district and surrounding coastal-northeastern corridor: the regional security situation demands professionalism, not vigilantism. Militia commanders and paramilitary leaders in this area — your decisions affect communities that stretch from the Tana delta to the Lamu coast. Armed forces that target Christians or other minorities destabilise an already fragile security environment and hand propaganda victories to the violent extremists they are meant to counter. Every serviceman in the Ijara security apparatus should understand: protecting all civilians is not a concession — it is a strategic and moral imperative.
Whether you are a commanding officer directing operations in Ijara, a lieutenant giving orders on the ground, an NCO managing the men below you, a sergeant leading a squad, or a paramilitary fighter who answers to a militia commander — this applies to you. Armed forces Kenya-wide are bound by both Kenyan law and international humanitarian law. The targeting of Christians in Garissa County by military, militia, or paramilitary groups is not a gray area. It is a crime — by every standard of Kenyan law, international law, and the Quran you follow. Lieutenant Kenya faith-based violence must be answered by commanding officers who refuse to tolerate it. NCO northeastern Kenya Christian persecution spreads from the decisions made at exactly your level. Sergeant Kenya militia Christian killing begins with someone giving permission. We are asking you not to be that person.
Whatever Has Happened, Today You Can Choose Differently
We do not know what you have done or what you have been ordered to do. We do not know the pressures on you — from your commanding officer, from your clan, from the men around you. We are not here to judge you for the past.
We are here to speak to you about today and tomorrow. Every day you have the choice of what kind of man you are going to be. Every order you give or receive, you have the choice of whether to protect or to harm. Every Christian in Ijara who is still alive tomorrow morning is alive because someone with a weapon chose not to use it on them.
Areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya remain dangerous because people with authority — commanding officers, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, paramilitary fighters, militia commanders — allow it. Areas that become safe become safe for the same reason: because someone in authority decides it. We are asking you to be that person in Ijara.
Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible. Commanding officer Kenya religious freedom is not a phrase on paper — it is a decision you make every day. Please make it today. Please be the person who makes Ijara safer for Christians. That is all we are asking.