TONNY ONYULO reports on attacks from Islamist extremist groups have left thousands of Christians living in fear and skipping church services for fear of being murdered or kidnapped…
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso/Nairobi, Kenya
In his village of Bourasso in western Burkina Faso, Saidou Ndiaye laments how he and his family have been unable to go to church and worship God for the last year after terrorists attacked their church and shot and killed more than a dozen people on 3rd July, 2022.
“They warned us not to go to church again. They told us they will kill anyone who tries to attend a church service,” said the 35-year-old father of three. “We live in fear of constant attacks, and we are not even allowed to pray privately in our houses. The terrorists have spies who inform them in case prayers are conducted.”
Victims of terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso in November, 2021. PICTURE: Courtesy of Aid to the Church in Need
The situation is similar in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital – about 275 kilometres from Bourasso. Prisca Fifame said Ouagadougou was still not secure, and going to church “does not guarantee you that you will come back alive”.
“It’s very risky attending a church service here unless you want to die. Christians stay home during Sunday, and if you wish to pray privately, you can do so without shouting.”
– Prisca Fifame
“It’s very risky attending a church service here unless you want to die,” said the 28-year-old mother of two. “Christians stay home during Sunday, and if you wish to pray privately, you can do so without shouting. We have no freedom of worship like in other countries because here, people from different religions seem to hate Christians.”
The situation in Bourasso and Ouagadougou mirrors other areas throughout the country. The attacks by jihadist groups with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have left thousands of Christians living in fear and skipping church services for fear of being murdered or kidnapped.
The West African nation of more than 22 million people has experienced an upsurge in jihadist attacks in recent years, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country, leaving thousands of people dead and millions displaced. According to an NGO count, over 16,000 civilians, troops and police have been killed by jihadists, including more than 5,000 people since the start of this year.
The insurgency that spilt over from neighboring Mali in 2015 has displaced more than two million people within the country and also halted access to basic social services such as health care, basic education, clean water, electricity and food.
Children are pictured in a camp for internally displaced people in Dori, Burkina Faso, on 19th February, 2021. The region’s bishops have started a fund for people displaced by conflicts in Burkina Faso. PICTURE: Tonny Onyulo
Religious leaders have said that Christians have been targeted during the attacks by jihadists who want to control regions and establish Sharia law throughout the country. During the attacks, thousands of Christians have been murdered, priests and pastors assassinated, and churches torched and closed.
The landlocked country’s population of 63.8 per cent adheres to Islam (predominantly Sunni), 26.3 per cent of the population practices Christianity, nine per cent maintain exclusively indigenous beliefs, and 0.9 per cent are unaffiliated or follow other faiths, according to the report by the US Department of State on International Religious Freedom.
In 2023, the Open Doors report ranked Burkina Faso as the 23rd worst country to be a Christian. The country also scored three out of four for religious freedom.
“These gunmen are mostly attacking Christians who are in churches to pray and searching Christians in their houses, villages and markets and killing them,” said Pastor Wilfred Kologo of the Pentecostal church in Kompienga, a region in eastern Burkina Faso.
“The reckless killings have scared Christians, and they cannot go to church to pray. Many people stay home because many churches and schools have been closed due to the ongoing attacks.”
Pastor Kologo revealed that the jihadist groups have been visiting villages in the northern and eastern parts of the country, pressuring residents who are Christians to renounce their faith. He said the situation has forced many residents to leave their homes and seek refuge in the refugee camps spread across the country, which experienced two coups d’état in nine months last year including, most recently, in September last year when Army Captain Ibrahim Traore disposed then the country’s military leader, President Paul-Henri Damiba, promising to fight jihadists.
“Christians are not free in this country as they are not even allowed to express their faith in public because of threats from jihadists,” said Kologo, noting that the majority of people who have been internally displaced because of attacks are Christians. “We have also heard many cases of persecution for those converting from Islam to Christianity.”
Catholic Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré. PICTURE: Aid to the Church in Need.
Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré, of the Catholic Diocese of Dori in north-eastern Burkina Faso, near the border of Niger, said the majority of his congregants have been skipping Mass for fear of increasing attacks from armed jihadists.
“They have a reason why they don’t attend the Mass because terrorists are all over, and many of our parishes have been left abandoned for fear of attacks,” he said, noting that some of his parishes in his diocese have been closed due to security reasons.
“The people of this country are traumatised by the things they have witnessed. Some have witnessed their loved ones being murdered by these terrorists, and others have been displaced due to continuous attacks, and they are suffering in camps.”
However, the bishop encouraged religious leaders to reach out to the congregants, share the word of God, and donate food and non-food items. He revealed that the terrorists target everyone, including Muslims, who don’t share the same ideologies with them.
“For us, we share the word of God through radio to reach out to many people who are unable to attend the Mass,” he said, explaining that they also collect bags of rice, clothes, and other essential items that are shared with people who are suffering. “We also donate food and relief supplies so that people who are in refugee camps or poor are able to survive.”
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Meanwhile, most residents are calling on the government to beef up security, especially in areas where Christians reside, so that they can open churches and continue serving God. Residents also said that the increased attacks by jihadist groups in the country have created an environment of fear, disrupting their livelihoods and keeping children away from school.
“The government needs to protect us. Otherwise, we are all going to die,” said Ndiaye, a resident of Bourasso, urging the international community to send the UN peacekeeping forces to help protect citizens.
“We are tired of suffering. The war has destroyed our lives. We have left our homes, and we are staying in the camps. We must be sure that the government has provided security for us to return to our homes and rebuild our lives.”
– With reporting by AMEEN AUWALII
