Four Seventh-day Adventist Church members were reportedly among the estimated 500 killed during religious riots in Jos, central Nigeria, earlier this month.

One Amos, an elder of Laranto church, was killed while trying to protect his church from being burnt by an angry mob,” says Jean Emmanuel Nlo Nlo, communication director for the Adventist Church in the Africa Indian Ocean region. “In saving the church building he lost his life.”

On the same day, Seth Yaboah, a Ghanian deacon of the Central church, and two other members from another Adventist church were leaving work when they were accosted and killed by an angry crowd, reports Nlo Nlo.

Tensions between Muslims and Christians in some parts of Nigeria have been on the rise since the introduction of Sharia—or Islamic law—in a number of Nigerian states over the past two years.

“After the bill was passed [in Kaduna State], the Christians felt it was an abuse of fundamental human rights as their protest was not taken into consideration before the vote,” explains Pastor Joseph Ola, president of the Adventist Church in Nigeria.

The continuing unrest in this part of the country is making normal church activity difficult, adds Ola. He says a ban on public preaching and public assembly is in place in some areas. The Adventist Church has also experienced difficulty in acquiring land for its development projects, and two church companies, or groups of believers, have been closed down. According to Ola, tithe and offering income of the conference, or regional church administration, has been “badly affected.”

Jonathan Gallager, United Nations Liaison for the Adventist world church, says the ongoing inter-religious violence in Nigeria is a tragedy for all. “The values at the heart of religious freedom—tolerance and mutual respect—are being destroyed with devastating consequences for the community,” says Gallagher.

“We ask the world church to continue praying for us,” says Ola. He says church leaders and members are holding on to the promise of Jesus, who said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”