Five Christians killed in Boko Haram repeat attack on Cameroon district

Five Christians were killed in a Boko Haram night-time attack on a Christian village in Far North Cameroon on 17 January; the same community the Islamist terrorists had struck less than two weeks before.

A Barnabas contact said villagers left everything behind as they fled the militants’ assault on Hidouwa village, Tourou district. Scores of homes were burned to the ground during the four-hour rampage, which began around 11 p.m. “Right now we can’t go to that village, even the soldiers have abandoned the village,” he said.

A woman mourns for her husband who was among the five Christians killed in the attack on Hidouwa village, Far North Cameroon
A woman mourns for her husband who was among the five Christians killed in the attack on Hidouwa village, Far North Cameroon

The army has also pulled out of the nearby village of Hitere, scene of a brutal Boko Haram raid on 6 January when two men were killed and two children kidnapped. “They saw the battalion of Boko Haram coming,” said our contact.

Our contact reported that terrified families have fled several Christian villages in the area to the larger towns of Koza and Tourou, but these too are now at risk of attack. “We need prayer because Tourou is in danger,” he said. “Everybody is confused, we don’t know what to do and we can’t understand what is happening. Pray for we Christians in this area.”

Barnabas Fund, barnabasfund.org