Burkina Faso – Over 150 killed in a terrorist attack

In Burkina Faso, over 150 were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in the history of the country. The Bishop of Kaya calls for a day of mourning and three days of prayer for the victims.  On August 24, the town of Barsalogho in Burkina Faso was the target of a terrorist attack which killed …

Nigeria – How a bishop became a bridge between Christians and Muslims

When he converted to Christianity, at age 12, Gerald Musa’s father could scarcely have imagined that his son would become the first bishop of his influential Hausa ethnic group. (Cover photo : Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina welcoming guests at the airport. On the right, Fr. Ikokwu Onwuchekwa.) Though mostly used nowadays to refer …

Nigeria: Kidnapped priest goes free

Nigerian priest Father Mikah Suleiman was released last night (Sunday, July 7) after more than two weeks in captivity. The parish priest of St. Raymond’s Catholic Church, in Damba, Zamfara State, had been abducted from his presbytery in Sokoto Diocese, North-West Nigeria, in the early hours of Saturday, June 22. In the days that followed, fears for …

Nigeria – Heroic staff save pupils as gunmen attack Catholic school at night

Hundreds of children have been kidnapped from schools across Nigeria over the past years, but fortunately the latest attack on a catholic school was foiled and nobody was killed or abducted. The quick thinking of a headteacher helped save the lives of sleeping students after armed extremists stormed a secondary school in Nigeria’s Middle Belt …

Nigeria – Leah Sharibu turns 21 in Boko Haram captivity

A jihadist captive turned 21 today (May 14th), six years after being abducted from her school in Nigeria and held hostage for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. (Cover photo: during a protest in 2018, a banner to request Leah’s liberation). On her birthday, a pastor close to Leah Sharibu’s family called on the Nigerian …

ACN Project of the Week-Cameroon

Subsistence aid for three religious sisters The congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Divine Providence was founded in Nigeria in the year 2000. The sisters visit the sick and elderly in their homes, caring for them and bringing them Holy Communion. They also support families and women with practical help and advice and are active …

Burundi – Bishops denounce murders and abductions of citizens, saying the situation “makes one shudder.”

Human rights violations are widespread in Burundi, a small country which borders the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. For years, the country has been largely isolated from the outside world. Recently, the Burundian bishops drew attention to the country’s plight, which goes largely unnoticed by the general public. For decades, Burundi – a …

Brutal murders of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt continue

Local community leaders say that the attacks followed tactics similar to those employed by armed bandits responsible for the Christmas massacres in Nigeria. Religion is a factor in the conflict which also has ethnic and economic roots. (Archive photo: a woman in tears after the attacks of Christmas 2023. This Easter time, the same scenario …

Breaking News-Burkina Faso-Catechist kidnapped and killed

Aid to the Church in Need expresses its deepest concern and sorrow following the kidnapping and subsequent killing of the catechist Édouard Yougbare from the parish of Saatenga in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso. The catechist was abducted last night by terrorists and his lifeless body was found near Zigni this morning. According to local sources …

Nigeria-The Way of the Cross of a kidnapped priest

Fr. Idahosa Amadasu, from the Diocese of Benin, is one of hundreds of Catholic priests who has been kidnapped and held for ransom by armed bandits in Nigeria over the past few decades. For several days, he suffered fear, humiliation, hunger, and cold, but he found strength in his faith in Jesus to endure a …