Burkina Faso: Fulani pastor brings hope to stigmatised communities

A primary schoolboy walks to school in Dori, northeastern Burkina Faso. (Getty Photo)
The disproportionate presence of ethnic Fulani among Islamist militants wreaking havoc in the Sahel and West Africa has led to a stigmatisation of the Fulani generally, says a Protestant pastor from Burkina Faso. In April security forces went into Djibo, a town in the northern part of Burkina Faso and . . . Read More

Burkina Faso church leader killed by Islamists: ‘I’d rather die than leave my community’

An outdoor church outside a home western Burkina Faso.(Photo: CIF Action via Flickr; CC 2.0)
Gunmen who attacked a Protestant church in Burkina Faso on 28 April asked the pastor and five others to convert to Islam before they killed them, World Watch Monitor has learned. Last Sunday’s violence in the West African country appears to have been the first attack, specifically on a church . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury raises profile of Nigeria attacks as new humanitarian crisis looms

Archbishop of Canterbury raises profile of Nigeria attacks as new humanitarian crisis looms
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has challenged the British government on how much it is doing to help end violent attacks on Christians in Nigeria. His comments, made in a House of Lords debate on Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram on Tuesday (17 July), follow the publication of a . . . Read More

Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso

Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso
A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday 3 June . . . Read More

Nigeria: Fulani herdsmen conflict has growing religious dimension – BBC

Nigeria: Fulani herdsmen conflict has growing religious dimension – BBC
Following the shooting dead of two Catholic priests and over a dozen parishioners at a church in Nigeria’s Middle Belt last month, the BBC has visited the village and spoken to survivors. Fr. Joseph Gor and Fr. Felix Tyolaha were killed during the morning Mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, in . . . Read More

Burkina Faso: concerns over reported rise in extremism

A church in Burkina Faso. The recent kidnappings of two Christian church leaders has created an atmosphere of anxiety among Christian communities in the north-eastern part of the country. (Photo: Photo: khym54 via Flickr; CC 2.0)
Christian and Muslim leaders in Burkina Faso met last week to discuss interreligious dialogue amidst growing concerns about the spread of violent Islamic extremism in the country, reports Fides. The landlocked West African nation, which borders Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is majority-Muslim (around 60%), but also . . . Read More

Ghana churches banned from using stadium

Ghana churches banned from using stadium
At least four churches have been banned from holding religious service in a stadium in Ghana’s northern city of Tamale. In addition to hosting sport activities, the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium is used by a number of institutions, including religious organisations and political parties. The stadium was recently renamed after . . . Read More