Courtney McGrailSome of the demonstrators at protests that turned into violent attacks on Catholic institutions in Niger were carrying signs supporting Boko Haram, the terrorist Islamist group based mainly in northeast Nigeria, local sources say.
Niger’s bishops have suspended all Church-run activities, including schools and health centres, in the aftermath of the attacks by demonstrators protesting against the publication of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The national government of the overwhelmingly Muslim country has declared three days of mourning after the widespread looting which included attacks on Church-run orphanages and schools, during which 10 people died and 45 churches were burned.
Sunday celebrations were suspended in the Diocese of Maradi and Niamey, where Apostolic Administrator Msgr Michel Cartatéguy says the Christian community is in “shock”. Although 12 of the diocese’s 14 churches had been destroyed, he told Vatican Radio, many members of religious communities had been protected by Muslim families, adding that “we must further strengthen the bonds of unity and brotherhood that we have built”.
Expressing concerns that those responsible for the riots were being manipulated from abroad, Msgr Cartateguy said it was “obvious that the millions of copies of the Muhammad cartoons being distributed are saying to the people here that the Christians of the West are the ones who have done this!”
Msgr Cartatéguy has previously expressed concerns about the rise of support for Boko Haram in Niger, noting that most believe the rise is driven mainly by economic factors, and highlighting how Diffa, on Nigeria’s border, was currently home to 150,000 refugees from Nigeria.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram forces have twice been repelled from the city of Maiduguri, according to the city’s bishop Msgr Oliver Dashe Doeme, who told Agenzia Fides that unless foreign troops intervened there was a risk that Boko Haram would “conquer the entire north-east” before the presidential elections in mid-February.
Pope Francis has condemned the “brutalities” and called for reconciliation, saying “war cannot be made in the name of God!”