ICC Note:

The Central African Republic’s deterioration into borderline genocide has heavily affected Christian communities throughout the violence-plagued nation. Easter week proved no better for the faithful, as radical Muslims murdered a Christian family of three after breaking into their home in the middle of the night April 16th, the Dombia Baptist Church in Bangui was burnt to the ground on April 17th, 37 year-old Father Christ Forman Wilibona of Saint Kisito Parish was killed by armed men linked to ex-Seleka on Good Friday, and Rev Thoma Ndakouzou, age 42, of the Baptist Church in Mbata was murdered Easter Saturday. Pray earnestly for peace and security in the Central African Republic and that God would protect his people.

04/25/2014 Central African Republic (World Watch Monitor) – For many Christians in the Central African Republic, Easter was synonymous with tragedy, adding to their already difficult circumstances. Two priests were killed, four others briefly detained and a  number of villages were attacked by ex-Seleka fighters in recent days.

On Good Friday, April 18, a Catholic priest was killed by armed men linked to ex-Seleka rebels, near Bossangoa in the north.

Father Christ Forman Wilibona, 37, was on his way back to his Saint Kisito Parish of Paoua, on his motorbike, when he was attacked near the village of Tale (about 35 km from Paoua).

He had earlier celebrated an Easter service at Ouham-Bac, near Bossangoa. His bullet-riddled body was found and then buried beside the road by villagers alerted by the noise of firearms, World Watch Monitor has learned.

His belongings along with his motorbike were stolen by his attackers. The next day a Red Cross Team, escorted by African Peacekeepers (MISCA), exhumed his body and transported it to Paoua where he was buried.

Fr Wilibona was consecrated priest in October 2007, before becoming the Bishop of Saint Kisito in November 2012. His killing is the first assassination of a Catholic priest since Seleka rebels were disbanded last year.

On Easter Saturday, April 19, another church leader was killed by anti-Balaka fighters. The circumstances of the killing of Rev Thoma Ndakouzou (42) of the Baptist Church in Mbata about 50 km from Bangui, the capital, are not yet established. He is survived by his wife and seven children. The killing of Rev Ndakouzou is the latest of several Protestant church leaders assassinated since President Francois Bozize was overthrown by Seleka rebels in March 2013.

The first Easter murder took place two days after a brief abduction by ex-Seleka fighters of the Bishop of Bossangoa, Monsignor (Mgr) Nestor-Désiré Nongo Aziagbia, along with three other Catholic clerics.

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