After escalating violence, situation in Burkina Faso is “dire” 

Priests from Burkina Faso testify to the suffering in their communities after the massacre of hundreds. 

Extremist groups controlling about 40 percent of Burkina Faso are now as dangerous as Boko Haram was in Nigeria, according to Father Bertin Namboho, bursar of the Nouna Diocese in western Burkina Faso. 

Speaking with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Namboho said that people in the diocese “live in constant terror.” 

Since May, terrorists have killed up to 240 people – about 100 of them Christian – and kidnapped many more in Burkina Faso.  

Father Namboho said that for the past two years, the city of Nouna has been under an insurgent blockade, and that he has been stopped by terrorists “several times” while traveling on Church business. 

He said, “You can never tell what they will do if they discover you are a priest, but I could not lie.”  

Father Jean-Pierre Keita, parish priest of Tansila, Banwa Province, was abducted “at gunpoint” by militants last year. 

Father Keita said, “When they took me into the forest, they searched my bag and found priestly objects such as an alb, a stole, and sacred vessels. I didn’t lie about being a priest. Despite the threat, I explained to them the meaning of each of these objects. They released me after a few hours.”

In the past five months alone, a total of eight attacks have taken place in and around his parish.  

He said that 200 extremists stormed Tansila on April 15th, “looted everything,” and ordered everyone to leave by 7 P.M. the same day. 

He added, “The terrorists broke into the hospital and removed the patients’ IV [intravenous] tubes, including from a baby who I was about to baptize. They removed his tubes, and he died. As a pastor of souls, going through a situation like this just makes your heart bleed.”

The military could only reach Tansila two days later. The insurgents had mined the one road leading to it.  

Father Keita said, “When I saw the damage and the Church destroyed, I burst into tears, and I understood the suffering of the people of Israel when the Temple was destroyed. You get the feeling of having lost your religious identity, your dignity. And in the midst of this, we ask ourselves: where is our God?”

Last Christmas Eve, the residents of six other villages in the same parish were forced out of their homes.  

“That was a very dark Christmas,” Father Keita said. “They did the usual: they looted everything, and what they didn’t need, they burned, to starve the people.” 

But he added that despite the fear and desperation, Christians in Burkina Faso “have hope, because amidst all the attacks, people have kept their faith [and] believe in a better future.” Vocations are flourishing in the country.

“We are grateful to all the people who have been moved by this desperate situation, and who are helping us however they can,” he concluded. “Thank you. ACN, because you do not only help us with material goods, but also with prayer. It is very important to know that we are not alone.”  

In the past year, ACN has supported 76 projects in the country, to assist the Church and ease the suffering of those affected by extremist violence.