185 Churches Burnt, 190,000 People Displaced In Borno, Adamawa

Rev. Gideon Obasogie has lamented the suffering of the church following attacks unleashed by terrorist sect in Borno and Adamawa State.

Obasogie, who is the Director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese said that two months after the capture of 11 towns in the two states, residents are still displaced from their houses and places of worship.

According to him, 185 churches in the Maiduguri Diocese were torched and 190, 545 people displaced.

“It is over 30 days now that our Church communities in Gulak, Shuwa, Michika, Bazza (among others) were sacked by the callous attacks of the Boko Haram terrorists.

“While Gwoza and Magadali had been under the tyrannical and despotic control of the terrorists and this is almost the sixtieth day.

“Our Priests are displaced, while citizens, who were supposed to celebrate their independence as a free Nation, were rather counting their losses and regrets as they had been reduced to the status of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs. Where is the freedom?” he asked.

“Life is really terribly difficult. We are waiting eagerly to go back home, even as it is obvious that we are going to reconstruct our looted and burnt houses and ecclesial structures.

Speaking further, in a press statement tagged “state of captured towns;” Obasogie said, “We have been sacked for months, sleeping in uncompleted buildings, camps and school premises. We have been absorbed into houses of relations and friends in sixties and seventies.”

“Meals time is always difficult and shameful. We have counted weeks rolling into months, must we also count years? We are waiting to go back home!

“Our minds are greatly troubled, do we think about our status, Or about our family members yet to be connected with ever since we fled our homes?

“Do we worry about our aged parents who were not so strong to run, they always fed us with words of encouragement and wisdom.

“Do we worry about our sick members, women and infants who had been trapped? Most of whom we heard had been rape and killed. Or worry about the health, education and future of our children? We have got a lot of questions yet to be answered.

“Talking about resumption, our children have not been fed and well clothed so resumption to schools is practically out of our calculation. In our opinion if thousand of Nigerian children can’t go to school then in the long run “boko is really haram.” Then their future is at stake, quite bleak.

“The health condition of our people is truly troubling in their displaced camps in Maiduguri, Mubi, Yola, Uba, Gombe, Biu and Damaturu,” the statement read.

1 COMMENT

  1. It is time for the church to start raising their own Amry CDS (Christ Defendant Solider), Boko hara are attacking us because they know that we are defenceless, if they know that the people they are going to atTack are also armed, they will think twice before they usqm. We shuld stop hiding behind 2Cor10:4-5, we should use physical weapon to foght physical warfare and spiritual weapon to fight spiritual warfare, the battle against boko haram is a physical battle that should not only be fought spiritually but also physically. $