Nigerian diocesan official gives grim account of Boko Haram devastation
November 19, 2014
In a report made available to the international charity Aid to the Church in Need, an official of the Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria, has outlined the devastation caused by the Boko Haram terrorist campaign.
“Many of our people are forced out of their ancestral homes,” reported Father Gideon Obasogie, the diocesan spokesman. “Right now, thousands are living in caves on the mountains.” Many children have been forcibly conscripted into the Boko Haram militia, he said; Christian families have been forced to convert to Islam and obey shari’a law.
When Boko Haram overran the town of Mubi, Father Obasogie said, about 2,500 Catholics were killed and 100,000 driven from their homes. Over 200 women and girls have been abducted. More than half of the priests of the Maiduguri diocese—26 out of 46—are now displaced. At least 50 churches and rectories have been destroyed, while dozens more are now empty or occupied by Boko Haram. Thirty of the 40 schools administered by the dioceses are closed.
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