Nigerian Lutheran archbishop calls for solidarity in the global fight against Boko Haram
(Nemuel Babba on rebuilding trust and the right of citizens to self-defense)
Numan, Nigeria / Geneva, 16.01.2015.
In this interview, Nigerian Lutheran Archbishop Dr. Nemuel A. Babba urges a “stronger global Christian voice against Boko Haram’s violence,” as well as helping “in solidarity to rebuild trust and relationships” in the country between Christians and Muslims. The congregations of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) are mostly located in Northern Nigeria.
How have the communities and congregations of northeastern Nigeria been directly affected by the growing violence of Boko Haram?
First of all – as the head of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, my heart is with those tens of thousands of families – Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths – in the northeast who have lost their loved ones in these incessant violent attacks on villages by the Boko Haram group. The senseless killing of people in early January, the destruction of homes, churches, mosques, schools and offices in the town of Baga in Borno State, once again revealed the harsh nature of Boko Haram and the helpless situation of Nigeria’s inhabitants in defending themselves.
The LCCN, like other Christian and Muslim communities in Borno, Yobe and here in Adamawa State, has suffered enormous losses since Boko Haram began its armed attacks in 2009 with the aim of creating an Islamic state in this part of the country. The LCCN’s Arewa and Shellem dioceses have been hit hardest; the bishops had to evacuate their diocesan offices two months ago. We do not know when they will be able to return, just as is the case with thousands of other displaced persons.
Many Lutheran churches and institutions, including the Gombi and Arewa cathedral, have been burned down or destroyed. About 50,000 of our members in Arewa and Shellem had no organized Lutheran services during the Christmas and New Year holidays because of the violence.
How are the churches and Christian communities responding to those who have suffered?
Put simply, here there are tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the devastated states. At our LCCN office in Numan we have taken in around 5,000 IDPs and many more in families.
I am encouraged to see that so many of our church members and other Christians, and Muslims as well, have opened their homes to fellow Nigerians fleeing the violence. Our goal is not to set up IDP camps, but rather, in cooperation with the local government, to support them in their needs now and then to help them return home. We continue to mobilize the local community to provide food, water and clothing; the response is astonishing. The government and Muslim organizations are helping to provide mattresses, bedding in bulk, and the like.
Are you using an ecumenical or inter-religious approach to advocate for those who have suffered?
Yes and no. Yes, because we as faith communities have recognized that the displaced need our help, and we have all responded to this task extremely well. As Christians we have drawn the government’s attention to the fact that, judging by what we have experienced, Christians are a target of Boko Haram’s attacks. This does not rule out the fact that Muslims, too, are attacked and killed, but Christians suffer the most losses.
Why do I say no? Simply because there is no dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters about the aims and impact of Boko Haram. The presence of this guerrilla group has destroyed trust here between Christians and Muslims to such a degree that we are not even able to speak frankly and openly about this common enemy.
We are going through painful experiences both at the family and the national level, as exemplified by the situation of the many families made up of both Christians and Muslims.
Recently, one of four Christian brothers took into his home a Muslim sister when she and her family were fleeing the attacks. However, after a few days he asked the sister to seek other shelter, because he could not live with her open criticism of and disrespect toward Christians. Yet the sister’s children stayed with their Christian uncle and their cousins.
How are we to heal and restore such relationships, in which one’s “brother’s keeper” has literally turned into his brother’s tormentor on account of extreme religious ideals? We no longer trust some of our Muslim brothers and sisters, because we do not know whether they are telling the truth when they claim that they want to be rid of Boko Haram.
A similar dynamic can be seen in the government, the political parties and the armed forces. The enemy is other Nigerians, and it is extremely difficult to fight against this enemy, to rebuild trust in this nation of many faiths and many ethnicities and in its families.
How can the global Lutheran and Christian communities express their solidarity?
It must be acknowledged that Nigerian Christians are angry, because we are the ones most affected by Boko Haram’s atrocities. We do not hear a sufficiently strong voice from other Christians of the world standing up against the terrorism directed at us, who live in the northeast.
To be courageous in their solidarity – this is what Christians around the world must learn. We think that not everything is being done to urgently halt Boko Haram’s terrorism. Nor is this the time to use the usual approach to inter-religious dialogue in Nigeria, despite its positive contribution to social unity in the country. We must raise the bar above the distribution of conference documents on the question of coexistence, where everyone tries to defend their own religion.
We must critically review once more and speak openly about the mutual relationship between Christians and Muslims and about the uncomfortable truth and the dreadful facts. This must be done with all Christian congregations standing in solidarity on a global scale.
What intervention can the international political community offer?
We as Nigerian Christians join the many voices that openly proclaim the evil that Boko Haram is doing. But we also know the history of this country’s civil conflicts: politicians who were rejected by the voters decided to make the country ungovernable through armed unrest. As Christians we preach peace, but we cannot simply stand aside and watch our people be senselessly killed. We are citizens of this country and cannot keep fleeing headlong because of Boko Haram. We have the right to defend ourselves, and, when we are driven to the worst, the alternative to peace may be an extreme necessity for a country of more than 170 million inhabitants. Despite its shortcomings, the Nigerian government is doing its best to stop the violence, but it needs encouragement and genuine support from the international community.
Since we long for peace, especially now, as the country prepares for elections in February, we once again appeal to the international community. We especially call on the LWF and the whole Lutheran communion to continue praying for us.
Archbishop Dr. Nemuel A. Babba leads the LCCN, which has more than 2.2 million members in its nine dioceses, mainly in northern Nigeria. It is one of two LWF member churches in Nigeria and joined the Lutheran communion in 1961.
Report prepared from information provided by the LWF http://www.lutheranworld.org
Photo: LCCN/Felix Samari LCCN/Felix Samari
Translated from English by LELBāL pastor Ieva Puriņa
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe