BURKINA FASO: ‘Situation is dire’ after escalating violence
Priests from Burkina Faso have given heart-rending testimony about the suffering in their communities after hundreds of people were massacred in the conflict-ridden country.
Extremist groups controlling around 40 percent of Burkina Faso’s territory now are as dangerous as Boko Haram was in Nigeria, according to Father Bertin Namboho, bursar of Nouna Diocese, western Burkina Faso.
Speaking with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Namboho said that people in the diocese “live in constant terror”.
Terrorists have massacred up to 240 people – around 100 of them Christian – and kidnapped many more in Burkina Faso since May.
Father Namboho said that, as the city of Nouna has been under an insurgent blockade for the past two years, he had been stopped by terrorists “several times” as he travelled on Church business.
He said: “You can never tell what they will do if they discover you are a priest, but I could not lie.”
Father Jean-Pierre Keita, parish priest of Tansila, Banwa Province, was abducted “at gunpoint” by militants last year.
Father Keita said “When they took me into the forest, they searched my bag and found priestly objects such as an alb, a stole and sacred vessels. I didn’t lie about being a priest.
“Despite the threat, I explained to them the meaning of each of these objects. They released me after a few hours.”
A total of eight attacks have taken place in and around his parish in the past five months alone.
He said that 200 extremists stormed Tansila on 15th April, “looted everything” and ordered everyone to leave by 7pm the same day.
He added: “The terrorists broke into the hospital and removed the patients’ IV [intravenous] tubes, including from a baby who I was about to baptise. They removed his tubes, and he died.
“As a pastor of souls, going through a situation like this just makes your heart bleed.”
The military was only able to reach Tansila two days later because the insurgents had mined the only road leading to it.
Father Keita said: “When I saw the damage and the Church destroyed, I burst into tears, and I understood the suffering of the people of Israel when the Temple was destroyed.
“You get the feeling of having lost your religious identity, your dignity. And in the midst of this we ask ourselves: where is our God?”
Last Christmas Eve, the inhabitants of six other villages in the same parish were forced out of their homes.
Father Keita said: “That was a very dark Christmas. They did the usual, they looted everything and what they didn’t need, they burned, to starve the people.”
He added that, despite the fear and desperation, Christians in Burkina Faso “have hope, because amidst all the attacks, people have kept their faith” and “believe in a better future” – with vocations also flourishing.
He concluded: “We are grateful to all the people who have been moved by this desperate situation we are experiencing, and who are helping us however they can.
“Thank you ACN, because you do not only help us with material goods, but also with prayer. It is very important to know that we are not alone.”
ACN has supported 76 projects in the country in the past year to assist the Church and ease the suffering of those affected by extremist violence.