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Violent Militancy and its
Impact on Christians
A B R I E F O N N I G E R I A , B U R K I N A FAS O
AND CAMEROON
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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Contents
INTRODUCTION
3
B U R K I N A FAS O
The Response
How Christians are affected
Examples of incidents reported by Open Doors
Recommendations
To the International Community
To the Government of Burkina Faso
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
NIGERIA
The Response
How Christians are affected
Examples of incidents reported by Open Doors
Recommendations
To the International Community
To the Government of Nigeria
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
CAMEROON
How Christians are affected
Examples of incidents reported by Open Doors
Recommendations
To the International Community
To the Government of Cameroon
10
10
11
11
11
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Open Doors’ trauma center in Nigeria
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Introduction
Whilst violent conflicts are not a new phenomenon, the magnitude of violence
committed against civilians and the complications surrounding the emergencies in
the Sahel over the last decade are exceptionally alarming. The UN Office for West
Africa and the Sahel, at a UN Security Council hearing in January 2023, called the
security challenges in the region “unprecedented”.
1
The Sahel is a diverse ethnic, religious and linguistic region, encompassing 10
countries with numerous social, political, economic as well as security challenges.
Fragile institutions affected by corruption and the simultaneous proliferation of
terrorist groups, particularly in West and Central Africa, have caused a humanitarian
crisis in recent years. Violence caused by non-state armed groups and the counter
insurgency operations by state forces has left millions of people either killed
or displaced.
2
While there were existing tensions between different groups (for example between
sedentary and pastoralist groups, between youthful populations and the state, and
between different faith groups), religion hardly contributed to political instability on a
national level before the start of the 21st century. However, fissures started to become
visible between the secular model of the state promoted by the political elites and
the Islamic models fused with ideas propagated by Islamic scholars and clerics.
3
The
emergence of Islamist groups linked with Al Qaida (AQIM) and Islamic State in the
Greater Sahara (ISGS), propagating violence, added new dimensions to these frictions.
To combat the rising violence and conflict, the Sahel has seen an interest and
increase in international military presence. The United Nations as well as Europe,
France, the US and regional states (Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger and Nigeria) have all either initiated or contributed to several counterterrorism
initiatives and deployments in the region.
4
While the violence has affected all those living in the region, Christian communities
have proven particularly vulnerable. Given the increasing expansion of militant
violence in the Sahel and its subsequent impact on Christian communities, as
reported its World Watch List 2023, Open Doors is launching a multi-year global
campaign on militant violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim is to join Christians
in Sub-Saharan Africa in bringing change through ensuring that their fundamental
rights and inherent dignity are respected, as well as that of their neighbors and the
communities they live in.
This briefing paper provides a landscape analysis of selected available secondary
sources on the effects of militant violence in the Sahel region, providing a summary
of the various forms of militant violence and its impact on Christian communities in
Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Nigeria.
The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel - Report.
2.9 million refugees and IDPs, according to UNHCR.
3
Benkirane, R. (ed.) (2016) ‘Radicalisation, violence et (in)sécurité. Ce que disent 800 sahéliens.’ Centre pour le
dialogue humanitaire (HD) et Programme des Nationas unies pour le Développement (PNUD).
4
tellerreport.com/news/2020-03-27---france-and-12-other-countries-form-the-nakuba-task-force-to-fight-
terrorists-in-the-sahel-.S1u0IlnII.html; reliefweb.int/report/mali/what-are-international-military-options-sahel;
crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/291-what-role-multinational-joint-task-force-fighting-boko-haram.
1
2
3
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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Burkina Faso
Previously appreciated for being politically and socially stable,
and as a mediator and constructive actor in sub-regional
security, Burkina Faso’s situation has become precarious. The
end of 27 years of the Compaoré presidency in 2014 revealed
deep divisions resulting in a security crisis that involved
several coups d’état, as well as an increase in terrorism and
organized crime.
5
Levels of insecurity are particularly high in the north and north-
east of the country where militant groups, ethnic militias and
security forces are fighting for control.
6
The northern region
has been infiltrated by groups from neighboring Mali, moving
across porous borders for their attacks and operations. It is
estimated that 50% of Burkina Faso’s territory is no longer
under government control.
7
Since the start of the insurgency in 2015, several militant
Islamist groups have been active in the country. These include
Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State
West Africa (ISWAP), Islamic State Greater Sahara (ISGS), the
Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), Ansar ul-Islam,
and Boko Haram. Ansar ul-Islam have launched attacks on
schools and intimidated schoolteachers into replacing French
with Arabic as the language of instruction. Schools not offering
classes on Islam were burned down.
8
While ethnic conflicts are rare in Burkina Faso, the government
is accused of stoking tensions by re-framing its assessment
of the situation from one of violent and faith-based extremism
to ethnic-based struggles.
9
The militarized response of the
Burkinabe government to the surging violence has allegedly
included indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations from
certain ethnic groups, atrocities such as the rape of women
in front of their families, and summary executions.
10
Such
responses have caused resentment against the government.
11
The violence has caused the displacement of nearly 2 million
people in a country with a population of just under 21 million.
12
On 1 December 1 2021, following a visit to the country, the U.N.
Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned that
more than 3.5 million people need humanitarian assistance in
Burkina Faso—a 60% increase since January 2020.
13
The Response
Since the beginning of the crisis in 2015, the Burkinabe
government lost control of territories in the north and
northeast of the country to militant groups, which infiltrated
from neighboring Mali and continue to move between borders
for their attacks and operations. Moreover, the response of the
government to the surging violence, which mainly manifested
in increased security and military operations against the
militant groups, resulted also in indiscriminate attacks
against civilian populations from specific ethnic groups. Such
responses further disenfranchised certain ethnic groups and
has increased resentment against the government among the
population in the north of the country.
14
How Christians are affected
The political uncertainty at home, the expanding activity
of Islamist militants as well as the growing insecurity in
reuters.com/article/uk-burkina-politics-idUKKCN0JC01B20141128.
Burkina Faso: Full Country Dossier, January 2023.
7
bbc.co.uk/news/topics/ce1qrvlelrrt/burkina-faso?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_
linkname=64394347bb343d77c498f9cf%26Burkina%20Faso%20%27mobilisation%27%20ramps%20up%20terror%20response%262023-
04-14T12%3A39%3A10.768Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:cb5357ac-795f-44ec-a7ee-11ed46a9ac31&pinned_post_asset_
id=64394347bb343d77c498f9cf&pinned_post_type=share.
8
hrw.org/report/2020/05/26/their-war-against-education/armed-group-attacks-teachers-students-and-schools.
9
reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Sahel_ViolentExtremismVulnerabilityResilience_EN_2018.pdf.
10
Ibid.
11
qz.com/africa/1756917/burkina-faso-has-replaced-mali-at-heart-of-sahel-security-crisis.
12
reliefweb.int/report/burkina-faso/usaid-bureau-humanitarian-assistance-burkina-faso-assistance-overview-april-2023.
13
counterextremism.com/countries/burkina-faso-extremism-and-terrorism.
14
qz.com/africa/1756917/burkina-faso-has-replaced-mali-at-heart-of-sahel-security-crisis.
5
6
4
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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neighboring countries, has made the country an increasingly
difficult place to live as a Christian. Historically, Burkina Faso
has always been known for its model of religious coexistence
in the Sahel region: Muslims, Christians, and Animists have
lived next to each other in peace for years.
15
Attacks by
militants and the spread of radical ideology, however, are
threatening the country’s exemplary model of social cohesion
and religious tolerance. There have been reports of attacks on
churches,
16
killings,
17
and kidnappings.
18
Many Christians have
fled their homes, leading to warnings that whole areas will
be left without a church presence.
19
Over 250 civilians were
killed in summary executions in 2019 alone. The perpetrators
justified the killings by explaining that the victims were
Christian or had sided with the government or the West.
20
On
16 February 2020, militants attacked a protestant church in the
town of Pansi, in Yagha province, killing 24 and injuring at least
18. Militants set the church on fire.
21
Burkina Faso is number 23 in 2023’s Open Doors World
Watch List, down from 32 in 2022. The targeting and killing
of Christians has created an environment of fear, with many
Christians being too scared to attend church services or send
their children to school.
22
Militant groups are also replacing the
government in areas under their control and have taken over
providing social services.
23
Recommendations
TO T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y:
1.
Provide further assistance to the Support Joint
Force G5S contingents and the wider Burkinabe
Security Forces, providing capacity training and
expertise advice on the model of EUCAP Sahel
Niger and EUCAP Sahel Mali deployed by the
European Union and the programs under Trans-
Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership by the
United States of America.
Invest in programs and initiatives that nurture,
preserve and reinforce social cohesion and unity
amongst religious groups in Burkina Faso and
create resilience against radicalization and
violent extremism.
2.
TO T H E G OV E R N M E N T O F B U R K I N A FAS O :
1.
Exert close oversight on the Security Forces to
ensure a proportionate response to the security
crisis and ensure that any operation deployed
will be compliant with international human rights
standards. The Security Forces must prevent any
indiscriminate attacks against civilians and any
action that will foster the stigmatization of specific
people groups.
Examples of incidents reported
by Open Doors
•
On 2 February 2023,
10 people were killed when
the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by an
Improvised Explosive Device near Inamoufali,
south-eastern Burkina Faso. The victims were
traveling to cemeteries to bury four people who
had been killed in an attack by unidentified
armed men the day before.
On 27 January 2023,
more than 50 militants
raided the village of Bananganti near the border
with Togo. They looted homes, stole cattle and
kidnapped three people. The attack caused an
exodus of villagers, fleeing to safer areas.
On 30 May 2022,
armed men killed at least 50
people in Madjoari, southeast Burkina Faso. The
victims, mostly men, were fleeing a blockage by
militants. The assault was the deadliest since
June 2021 when at least 132 civilians were killed
in a militant attack in Solhan, in the northeast of
the country.
24
•
•
“Burkina Faso: Preserving the religious balance”,
International Crisis Group, 6 September 2016.
aljazeera.com/news/2020/2/17/dozens-killed-in-church-attack-in-burkina-faso.
17
fides.org/en/news/73243AFRICA_BURKINA_FASO_Catholic_priest_murdered_in_north_west_of_the_country.
18
dw.com/en/why-kidnappers-in-west-africa-now-target-women/a-64461678; ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/01/turk-alarmed-abduction-least-50-women-burkina-faso.
19
thetablet.co.uk/news/11844/burkina-faso-bishop-warns-of-elimination-of-christians-in-the-country.
20
hrw.org/news/2020/01/06/burkina-faso-armed-islamist-atrocities-surge.
21
theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/17/burkina-faso-church-attack-dead-wounded.
22
Burkina Faso: Full Country Dossier, ibid.
23
Ibid.
24
reuters.com/world/africa/armed-attackers-kill-100-civilians-burkina-faso-village-raid-2021-06-05.
15
16
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
5
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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An Open Doors’ beneficiary, Isuwah Yakabu, in his
destroyed village Guyaka, northeastern Nigeria
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Nigeria
Nigeria faces multiple security threats across its territory, with
insecurity deepening in the north and south of the country.
The authorities, whether federal or state, seem either unable
or unwilling to protect large sections of society. The country
is home to more than 250 ethnic groups and ethnicity and
religion, which are often politicized, have long presented
challenges to nation-building. Under the Constitution, Nigeria
is a secular state with no official state religion. Despite that,
in 1999, Sharia law was introduced in the north and is now
established in 12 states.
25
Boko Haram once controlled significant territory in northern
Nigeria.
26
Although it lost its leader (Shekau) and has been
militarily diminished in recent years, it remains active. Boko
Haram is notorious for targeting Christians, abducting and
killing males and abducting, raping and forcibly marrying
women and girls. Non-Muslim students and teachers attending
secular education institutions in the north have been targeted
because Boko Haram militants perceive their engagement
with modern education as a sign of disobedience and schools
as breeding grounds for corruption.
27
Similar violence is
carried out by Boko Haram’s splinter faction Islamic State
West Africa (ISWAP), which pledges allegiance to Islamic
State.
28
Boko Haram and ISWAP militants have held hostages
for years. On 14 April 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted
by Boko Haram in Chibok. More than 100 of them remain in
captivity as of today. The families of the hostages hardly ever
receive updates on the government’s efforts to release them.
29
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt region a decentralized armed group
with ethnic ties to the pastoralist Fulani people, the Fulani
Ethnic Militia (FEM),
30
attack predominantly Christian villages,
abducting, raping and killing people, destroying buildings and
harvests or occupying farmlands.
31
While the violence has complex and often disputed root
causes, it has intensified ethnic and religious divisions.
32
Adding to the insecurity are attacks by other armed criminals,
commonly referred to as ‘bandits’, who engage in cattle
rustling, mass abduction of school children, kidnap for ransom
and pillaging of villages.
33
The insurgencies and conflict have
forced more than 3 million Nigerians to flee their homes.
34
The Response
The governments’ response to Islamist groups terrorizing
the population has contributed to an escalation of violence,
fueled by the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons
(SALWs) in the country. Fulani militants attacking farmer
communities have access to military-grade weapons such as
machine guns and AK-type rifles.
35
Studies show that most
of the weapons in circulation in Nigeria are in the hands of
civilians, and that most arms are held illegally. Predominantly
Christian communities complain of the government’s failure
to seize Fulani militants’ weapons – with the security forces
often showing up hours after a Fulani militia attack, leaving
predominantly Christian communities defenseless and at the
mercy of violent militants, increasing a sense of impunity.
The combination of arms proliferation, impunity and
government inaction has allowed Boko Haram to expand its
operations and has caused an increase in violence in the
northwest of Nigeria, where attacks by armed bandits on
villages and schools are becoming endemic.
36
While the government’s response sometimes appears passive,
in other situations it can be described as heavy-handed. Some
military operations to eradicate Islamist militants have been
criticized as being contrary to international standards, for
example in failing to take due precautions when attacking.
There have also been allegations of the military subjecting
persons to arbitrary punishment based on anonymous
accusations or suspected sympathies with militant groups.
37
qeh.ox.ac.uk/content/sharia-implementation-northern-nigeria-after-15-years.
acleddata.com/10-conflicts-to-worry-about-in2022/nigeria/#:~:text=While%20a%20long%2Drunning%20Islamist,political%20violence%20events%20in%20Nigeria.
27
Momodu, J.A. (2021) ‘Islamising education in northeast of Nigeria: Understanding the key motivations of Boko Haram Jihadists attacks on educational institutions’,
African Journal of Terrorism and Insurgency Research, 2(2), p.19.
28
Nigeria: Full Country Dossier, January 2022.
29
worldwatchmonitor.org/2018/10/leah-sharibus-mother-pleads-to-nigerian-president-as-kidnappers-threaten-to-kill-leah/.
30
Explaining transhumance-related violence: Fulani Ethnic Militia in rural Nigeria,
Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 8, January275.
31
Ibid, p. 38.
32
Stopping Nigeria’s Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence,
International Crisis Group, July 2018.
33
aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/6/nigeria-labels-bandit-gangs-terrorists-in-bid-to-stem-violence.
34
unhcr.org/us/countries/nigeria#:~:text=As%20of%20June%202022%2C%20there,other%20parts%20of%20the%20country.
35
Amnesty International, Ibid., pp. 50-61; 35-37.
36
issafrica.org/iss-today/boko-haram-teams-up-with-bandits-in-nigeria.
37
Benkirane, R. (ed.) (2016) , ‘Radicalisation, violence et (in)sécurité. Ce que disent 800 sahéliens.’ Centre pour le dialogue humanitaire (HD) et Programme des
Nationas unies pour le Développement (PNUD).
25
26
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
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How Christians are affected
Nigeria has featured again in the Open Doors’ World Watch
List top 10 in the last three years and tops the list of countries
where Christians experience most violence globally. Between 1
October 2021 and 30 September 2022 almost 5000 Nigerian
Christians were killed in violence relating to Boko Haram,
Fulani militants and ‘bandits’.
38
Besides loss of life, Christians face physical injury, rape and
other forms of sexual harassment, as well as loss of property
and destruction of farmlands. In addition, abductions for
ransom have increased considerably over recent years.
39
As
a result of the violence, Christians are being dispossessed of
their land and means of livelihood and many live as Internally
Displaced People (IDPs) or refugees.
Recommendations
TO T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y:
1.
Collaborate with and urge the Nigerian government
to discharge its constitutional duty to ensure the
safety and security of civilians as per international
conventions and treaties that Nigeria has ratified
and therefore legally bound to respect;
Urge the Nigerian government to take a strong
stance against all violence, including Fulani
militant violence, investigate the perpetrators,
hold them accountable to the justice system and
break the cycle of violence that is expanding to
other areas of the country;
Urge the Nigerian Government to continue its
efforts to liberate the hostages held by Boko
Haram, including young Christian girls such as
Leah Sharibu and the Chibok girls who are still
held captive.
2.
Examples of incidents reported
by Open Doors
•
On 15 April 2023,
alleged Fulani militia attacked
the Christian village of Runji, in Zangon Kataf
Local Government Area, northern Kaduna State.
The Chairman of the village council, Francis Sani,
reported that 33 people were killed, 7 injured, and
over 40 houses burned. Some of the victims were
burned alive as the attackers set houses ablaze.
On 7 April 2023,
at least 32 internally displaced
Christians were killed when Fulani militants
attacked a large informal camp in Benue State,
north-central Nigeria. This informal IDP camp,
located on a piece of land next to a local primary
school, houses over nearly 30,000 people,
mostly Christians, who fled their villages after
Fulani militant attacks. The camp’s population
consists mostly of women and children. The men
have either been killed or have tried to return to
their farms to earn some kind of income for their
displaced families. Many of the men that do live
in the camp are elderly or injured. According to
reports, the majority of those killed were women
and children.
On 23 March 2023,
armed Fulani militia stormed
the Christian villages of Dnalagwa, Apuluwyi and
Sabon Gida Kurebe in Shiroro Local Government
Area, in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State.
Villagers were woken up by the sound of
gunshots. At least 6 were killed and 56 were
kidnapped. The attackers also raped 26 women
and girls, 9 of them under the age of 18. The
assault lasted for hours without any intervention
from security forces in the area. Four people
were killed in attacks on neighboring villages
earlier that week.
3.
TO T H E G OV E R N M E N T O F N I G E R I A :
1.
Urgently ensure the domestication of the
Economic Community of West African States’
(ECOWAS) Convention on Small Arms and Light
Weapons into national law and ensure its full and
effective implementation.
Create a position within the government for the
sole purpose of maintaining an active family
liaison and an open and accessible channel of
communication with the traumatized parents of
those who are kidnapped by militants.
•
2.
•
Pastor Jeremiah and his wife. Their village in
Nigeria’s Middle Belt was attacked in April 2020
38
39
orfa.africa/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/120123-ORFA-Preliminary-fact-sheets-on-killings-and-abductions-in-Nigeria-Oct-21-to-Sep-22.pdf.
Nigeria: Full Country Dossier, Ibid.
8
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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Sara, an Open Doors’ beneficiary, lost her husband
due to violence in the Far North region of Cameroon
 URU, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 145: Materiale fra Open Doors til foretræde om kristenforfølgelser i Vestafrika den 5. april 2024
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Cameroon
Cameroon faces an armed insurgency by separatist groups
centered around the Anglophone regions in the North and
Southwest regions.
40
It also is under severe pressure from
Islamist militants with attacks by Boko Haram and Islamic
State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Far North region.
Religion in Cameroon is said to be a matter of ethnicity.
Although Islam is firmly established in the three northern
administrative regions (Adamawa, North, and Far North),
there are scattered Christian communities throughout.
41
Created through post-colonial territorial fragmentation,
Cameroon’s Far North has been largely neglected by the
national government.
42
The region has the highest poverty
rate in the country at 66% and a very low level of education
with the literacy rate being a little over 28%.
43
Desertification
also crippled traditional economic activities that were once
undertaken by the region’s different ethnic communities.
44
The difficult economic situation and weak governance,
compounded by porous borders with corrupt customs and
weak security presence, has made the Far North region
particularly vulnerable to the infiltration of Islamist militants
like Boko Haram.
45
While Boko Haram operates in Far North,
ISWAP has been attacking security forces and civilians around
Cameroon’s Lake Chad area and Maroua, the capital of the
Far North region, on a regular basis. The violence has led to
the forced displacement of at least 378,000 people while 1.2
million are in need of humanitarian aid.
46
In March 2023 more than 4000 people were displaced in the
region following attacks by non-state armed groups involving
raids on villages, kidnappings and the use of improvised
explosive devices (IEDs).
47
There are reports of killings
48
and
beheadings
49
as well. Meanwhile, there is discontent with the
government forces who have been accused of violations of
international humanitarian and human rights laws, including in
killings and arbitrary arrests.
50
How Christians are affected
Christians in the region have been forced to flee their
homes to find safety from indiscriminate violent attacks and
kidnappings,
51
causing churches to adjust activities or close. In
other areas, security injunctions have set heavy restrictions on
church activities. Cameroon is 45 on Open Doors’ 2023 World
Watch List.
Hannah and Sarah lost thier
husbands in a Boko Haram
attack on their village of Hittawa
in the North of Cameroon
crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon.
Goyek, Daga Robert, The State of Christian-Muslim Relations in Cameroon: Challenges Opportunities for Collaboration for Peace and Development. Paper presented
at the Africa and Muslim Religious Leaders Conference on Peace and Development, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, 8–13 January 2012; pp. 101–3.
42
Ibid, The political economy of violence in the Far North.
43
Ibid, The political economy of violence in the Far North, p. 13.
44
crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/cameroon/b133-extreme-nord-du-cameroun-le-casse-tete-de-la-reconstruction-en-periode-de-conflit.
45
Ibid, The political economy of violence in the Far North.
46
reliefweb.int/report/cameroon/cameroun-extreme-nord-rapport-de-situation-no-24-juillet-2022.
47
reliefweb.int/report/cameroon/cameroon-humanitarian-bulletin-march-2023.
48
voanews.com/a/cameroon-s-large-scale-boko-haram-attacks-leave-thousands-homeless-/7057215.html; amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/cameroon-275-killed-boko-
haram-far-north-victims-feel-abandoned.
49
humanglemedia.com/elderly-woman-beheaded-by-boko-haram-in-far-north-cameroon.
50
hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/cameroon.
51
Kpughe L, Christian Churches and the Boko Haram Insurgency in Cameroon: Dilemmas and Responses, Religions 2017, 8(8), 143, 2017.
40
41
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VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
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Examples of incidents reported
by Open Doors
•
On 17 March 2023,
a large group attacked the
villages of Zeleved and Kirawa Mafa near the
border with Nigeria. The group of an estimated
2000 people descended on the area in three
waves. Heavily armed men started the attack
by targeting the military camp of the BIR (Rapid
Intervention Battalion) in Zeleved. The group that
followed looted houses and livestock while a
third group went around setting houses on fire.
Witnesses reported that they could hear attackers
shouting “Allahu Akubar” (Allah is greater (God))
during the attack. A soldier was beheaded and 15
injured. The armed group kidnapped two men in
their 20s and stole motorcycles, pick-up trucks,
weapons and cattle. Most villagers have fled to
safer areas.
On 7 July 2022,
Boko Haram attacked the village
of Kangarouwa. As they stormed the village, firing
randomly at people fleeing, they killed a family of
four. Ms Achi Issiakou and her husband Issiakou
were carrying their two-year-old daughter and a
four-year-old son, fleeing the attackers together
with Mr Issiakou’s father, when bullets struck. Mrs
Issiakou, pregnant with their third child, was the
only one to survive. She witnessed her husband,
son and father-in-law being shot but kept running
with her daughter in her arms. By the time she
reached safety, she noticed her daughter had
died from shot wounds as well. The total number
of casualties has not been confirmed.
On Sunday 25 April 2022,
around midnight,
suspected Boko Haram militants attacked
the community of Bargaram in the Logone
and Chari Division. They fired a rocket at the
Catholic church, burning it to the ground, looted
properties and killed a local health worker who
refused to treat their wounded soldiers.
Recommendations
TO T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y:
1.
Provide capacity training and expertise advice on
the model of EUCAP Sahel Niger and EUCAP Sahel
Mali deployed by the European Union.
Support the Government of Cameroon to
strengthen its borders to prevent infiltration
of militants into Cameroonian territories from
bordering countries and ensure that militants do not
have an easy way out of the country’s borders to
escape Security Force.
Increase humanitarian aid to displaced people
because of the violence and explore ways of
involving Local Faith Actors, who have easy
access to communities in crisis and are usually
the first responders.
2.
3.
•
TO T H E G OV E R N M E N T O F C A M E R O O N :
1.
Increase the presence of security forces and
strengthen border control in the Far North.
•
Esther with her young children, Open Doors’
beneficiaries, affected by the violence in the
Far North region of Cameroon
A brief on Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cameroon
VIOLENT MILITANCY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANS
11
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