Boko Haram militants are expanding their operations to rural villages in Nigeria and on the border with other countries, a Catholic Priest in Cameroon has said, adding that the militants have paralyzed pastoral activities in a huge chunk of his Parish.
In a message to Catholic Pontifical foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, the Priest who the foundation does not name for security reasons says that the arrival of militants in Oupaï, a town that lies in the far North of Cameroon, had left locals with fear and anxiety.
“Today the people are full of fear and anxiety,” the Catholic Priest says in the ACN Thursday, March 31 report, and adds, “We have received another visit – one of many – from Boko Haram militants. They managed to reach Oupaï by coming through Douval.”
The Boko Haram militants, the Catholic Priest says, killed two people, burned the houses and carried off clothing and animals.
“Since mid-February four of the seven areas of the parish have been paralyzed,” he is quoted as saying in the report, and adds, “We thought they wouldn’t be able to reach Oupaï because it is right on top of a mountain, but we were wrong!”…
“In the past they entered villages, ostentatiously yelling war cries. But recently they have come discreetly, taking advantage of the full moon, to surprise people in their sleep. They kill the fathers of the family and the teenagers, especially the boys. Then they pillage the family’s property and destroy everything they can’t carry off,” he says….
“Funds have also been allocated to print 2,000 Bibles in Mafa, the language spoken in 12 Parishes in the same Diocese,” ACN indicates in the March 31 report, and adds, “The local Christians wish to improve their knowledge to be better grounded in their faith and thereby be better able to face the challenges posed by their increasingly radical Muslim surroundings.”
