ICC Note: The Catholic Church has been under great persecution in Nigeria for the past 9 years. After the first attack by the Boko Haram in 2009, over 100,000 Catholics have been displaced within Nigeria and over 5,000 have been killed. However, despite their persecution the church is standing strong, saying their faith is not only being tested, but proven.

09/12/2018 Nigeria (National Catholic Reporter) –  Since Boko Haram launched its first attack in the summer of 2009, the church has been deeply affected by the conflicts.

The Maiduguri Diocese comprises the whole of Borno state, Yobe and some part of Adamawa — all in northeast Nigeria. It is the largest in terms of land mass. But in terms of population, the diocese has about 300,000 Catholics, according to Fr. John Bakeni, diocese secretary.

More than 100,000 Catholics, 200 catechists, 26 priests and 30 nuns have been displaced, and more than 200 parishes, especially in the northern part of Adamawa and northern Borno, have been destroyed. The diocese also lost 17 schools, six clinics and four convents. The insurgents have killed at least 5,000 Catholics and destroyed 22 rectories, according to the diocese. But attacks against the Catholic Church and Christians in northern Nigeria were happening years before Boko Haram.

“People try to place the historical timeline that it started in 2009 but we have been experiencing torture,” Bakeni said. “On Feb. 18, 2006, for instance, one of us, Fr. Michael Dagere, was killed. He was murdered in cold blood in his parish by some Muslim hoodlums. We had another incident where the bishop’s house was burned.”

The Maiduguri Diocese calls the victims of Boko Haram martyrs. In 2017, after completion of a new cathedral, St. Patrick, located in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, a big banner inscribed with “Maiduguri martyrs pray for us,” hangs on the left wing of the altar.

This was deliberate, said Bakeni. “The Maiduguri Diocese is a suffering church. It’s a persecuted church, so after we built the church we kept the banner there.”

“In fact, all I can say is that the faith [of Catholics in this region] has been tested and proven. What we are going through here is for the purification of the mother church. It is in such a moment that the church is defined,” Bakeni adds.

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