Christian Church Burned to the Ground by Islamic Militants in Cameroon
Mob of 100 Boko Haram Islamist terrorists raid and destroy church, slaughter livestock
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A Christian church has been completely destroyed by Islamic militants, who raided the building and stole and slaughtered all livestock before burning it to the ground, according to local reports.
A mob of roughly 100 jihadists, of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram, looted and torched a church of the Union of Evangelical Churches in the village of Krawa Mafa in Northern Cameroon.
Local media reported Wednesday that Boko Haram raiders attacked the church on the night of 14 to 15 September, destroying it completely.
Aside from burning the church building, the Islamists torched 50 concessions, stole some 200 sheep and goats, and slaughtered any livestock they left behind, reports stated.
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According to Breitbart, the local Cameroon military was aware of the attack but did not attempt to engage the terrorists since they found themselves severely outnumbered.
There has been an upsurge of jihadist activity in this border region whose local security forces are understaffed due to a reduction in personnel.
The national government has been asked to take steps to remedy this deficit but so far no action has been taken.
The kidnapping of Catholic priests has also become widespread in Cameroon’s two western regions since the outbreak of an armed conflict in 2017 that has resulted in hundreds of deaths.
Just last month two Catholic priests were kidnapped at gunpoint at Ibal village in the anglophone region of the country’s Northwest.
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Father Franklin Banadzem Dindzee, the diocesan youth chaplain of Kumbo Diocese, and Father Patrick Atang were “kidnapped late at night on Thursday along Ibal-Jikejem road on their way to the town of Oku in the Northwest Region,” said a statement by the local Catholic church.
The church also called on the kidnappers to release the clerics unharmed.
The abduction took place on August 15, the Catholic feast of the Assumption.
The incident occurred on the same day the Bishop of Kumbo, George Nkuo, publicly condemned the atrocities that have been committed in the area.
Nkuo was urging Christians to pray for peace for the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country.
In late 2017, Amnesty International reported that Boko Haram had shifted its base of operations from Nigeria into Cameroon.
AI says the shift is accounting for an upsurge of Islamist terror attacks in Cameroon.
