Tag: West Africa

Burkina Faso: Fulani pastor brings hope to stigmatised communities

October 19, 2020 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso, Churches, Djibo, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Sahel, Terrorism, West Africa

A primary schoolboy walks to school in Dori, northeastern Burkina Faso. (Getty Photo)

The disproportionate presence of ethnic Fulani among Islamist militants wreaking havoc in the Sahel and West Africa has led to a stigmatisation of the Fulani generally, says a Protestant pastor from Burkina Faso. In April security forces went into Djibo, a town in the northern part of Burkina Faso and . . . Read More

Burkina Faso church leader killed by Islamists: ‘I’d rather die than leave my community’

May 2, 2019 Burkina Faso Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Djibo, IDPs, Islamic extremism, Islamic State West Africa Province, Ken Elliott, Sahel, Sirgadji, Soum, West Africa

An outdoor church outside a home western Burkina Faso.(Photo: CIF Action via Flickr; CC 2.0)

Gunmen who attacked a Protestant church in Burkina Faso on 28 April asked the pastor and five others to convert to Islam before they killed them, World Watch Monitor has learned. Last Sunday’s violence in the West African country appears to have been the first attack, specifically on a church . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury raises profile of Nigeria attacks as new humanitarian crisis looms

July 19, 2018 Nigeria Adamawa, Benue, Berom, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kogi, Muhammadu Buhari, Nasarawa, Nigeria, Plateau, Sahel, Taraba, West Africa

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has challenged the British government on how much it is doing to help end violent attacks on Christians in Nigeria. His comments, made in a House of Lords debate on Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram on Tuesday (17 July), follow the publication of a . . . Read More

Families left confused after reported release of Burkina Faso Christians turns out to be false

July 13, 2018 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Soum, West Africa

A Burkina Faso pastor and seven other Christians reportedly released by their kidnappers one month ago are in fact still in captivity, World Watch Monitor has been told by the pastor’s eldest son. Pastor Pierre Boéna was kidnapped by armed men on 3 June – alongside his younger son, daughter-in-law, . . . Read More

US missionary, captive for 20 months, is alive, reports Niger’s president

June 7, 2018 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, Mahamadou Issoufou, MUJAO, Niger, Sahel, West Africa

A US missionary kidnapped in Niger in October 2016 is alive, according to the West African nation’s president. Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED) was abducted by unknown assailants late in the evening of Friday 14 October, 2016, from the town of Abalak in . . . Read More

Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso

June 5, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Children, Djibo, Education, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Sahel, Soum, West Africa

A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday 3 June . . . Read More

Nigeria: Fulani herdsmen conflict has growing religious dimension – BBC

May 11, 2018 Nigeria Abuja, Benue, Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, Donald Trump, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Maiduguri, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Sahel, West Africa

Following the shooting dead of two Catholic priests and over a dozen parishioners at a church in Nigeria’s Middle Belt last month, the BBC has visited the village and spoken to survivors. Fr. Joseph Gor and Fr. Felix Tyolaha were killed during the morning Mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, in . . . Read More

Burkina Faso: concerns over reported rise in extremism

April 20, 2018 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso, Catholics, Djibo, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Pouytenga, West Africa

A church in Burkina Faso. The recent kidnappings of two Christian church leaders has created an atmosphere of anxiety among Christian communities in the north-eastern part of the country. (Photo: Photo: khym54 via Flickr; CC 2.0)

Christian and Muslim leaders in Burkina Faso met last week to discuss interreligious dialogue amidst growing concerns about the spread of violent Islamic extremism in the country, reports Fides. The landlocked West African nation, which borders Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is majority-Muslim (around 60%), but also . . . Read More

Ghana churches banned from using stadium

February 15, 2018 Accra, Churches, Ghana, Tamale, West Africa

At least four churches have been banned from holding religious service in a stadium in Ghana’s northern city of Tamale. In addition to hosting sport activities, the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium is used by a number of institutions, including religious organisations and political parties. The stadium was recently renamed after . . . Read More

Niger’s churches rebuilt, but West African nation ‘no longer tolerant’

January 24, 2018 Niger Charlie Hebdo, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niamey, Niger, Sahel, Trauma, West Africa

In Niger new buildings have emerged from the rubble of churches destroyed three years ago in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. On the weekend of 16-17 January, 2015, more than 70 churches were ransacked by hundreds of angry Islamists, who were said to be angered at . . . Read More

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