Nigeria: Are the christians going to take up arms against Boko Haram?

Church of the Holy Trinity in Onitsha (south of Nigeria).

In Nigeria, certain Christians are considering creating self-defense militias to fight against Boko Haram, according to a survey realized by the American information website Cruxnow on August 25, 2015. "The members of Boko Haram have destroyed so many lives that life has no more value for them," stated Fr. Peter Omori, whose parish was bombarded in 2012, resulting in 12 deaths. "They kill people like we kill chickens (...). Who would sit back and wait for someone to come kill him or attack his family and goods at will?" asked the priest.

The project is far from unanimous among the Christians of Nigeria. Thus, in the opinion of Bishop Ignatius Kaigama, Catholic bishop of Jos, in the north of the country, it would be best to "look for alternative solutions" first, and to "resolve the problem at its root and accomplish a decisive negotiation with those perpetrating these atrocities."

According to Open Doors, a Protestant organization for the defense of Christians, quoted by the press agency Apic on August 30, 2,484 Nigerian Christians, including women and children, were killed in 2014. This average of 7 deaths a day is higher than that recorded in other parts of the world where Christians are persecuted, such as Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

(sources: apic/cruxnow – DICI no.320 dated Sept. 11, 2015)

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