The director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese, Rev. Gideon Obasogie, has said that two months after the capture of 11 towns in Borno and Adamawa states by Boko Haram insurgents, 185 churches in the diocese have been razed and 190, 545 people displaced, with surviving residents unable to return to their houses and places of worship.
This disclosure was made yesterday in a statement entitled “State of Captured Towns” and made available to newsmen in Maiduguri, the state capital.
According to the statement, the “ransacking and torching” of churches in the captured towns and villages have already displaced many priests and lay faithful who are taking refuge in either Yola or Maiduguri metropolis in the last few weeks.
He described the capturing of towns along with the torching of about 185 places of worship as “sad, heart aching and potentially dangerous to the territorial integrity and common good of Nigeria.”
According to the church, “It is over 30 days now that our church communities in Gulak, Shuwa, Michika, Bazza, etc, 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 60th 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)”.
God will Judge between us n them. His verdicts, judgment upon evil men n supporters, financiers is imminent .those that support killers of christians , distruction of churches [support of any kind@] will soon clap hands for themselves. except Jesus Christ is not alive. we shall see . watch out.
Am so so sad! I wish I the people of Nigeria could collectivellv denounce terrorisme with ONE VOICE!
It is painfull that the a lot of muslems from the North have REFUSED the sad truth that boko haram is A TERRORIST GROUP destroying the cuontry and targetting christians . If the gouvernement is fighting them,
let the ststes too do the same. I FIND IT ABSURD THAT STATE GOUVERNMENTS DO ALMOST NOTHING TO THIS EFFECT. WHY TALK ABOUT “DIALOGUE”WITH THEM, ON WHAT GROUNDS? THE NORTHERN GOUVERNORS FORUM SHOULD SPEAK OUT BOLDLY AGAINST BOKO HARM TERROSITS AND STOP SUPPORTING THEM BY ASKING FOR DIALOUGE. THEY SHOULD SUPPORT THE FEDERAL GOUVERNMENT TO FIGHT AGAINST THEM
AS WELL AS RE- EDUCATE THEIR PEOPLE ON THE TRUE TERRORIST NATURE OF BOKO HARAM. THE WHOLE IS JOINTLY FIGHTING AGAINST TERROR BUT NOT IN NIGERIA, EGYPT THOUGH A MUSLEM COUNTRY JOINTLY DENOUNCED AND STILL FIGHTS TERRORISTS IN THEIR GROUP. IT HAS NOT MADE THEM LESS MUSLEMS, RATHER IT HAS FURTHER UNITED AND STRENGTHENED THE WHOLE COUNTRY. WHY CANNOT NIGERIANS DO THE SAME?