The Voice of the suffering in Africa

Securing the release of the remaining 165 students and staff remains the top priority of the local church, Bishop Bulus Yohanna told ACN. One hundred of the 265 students and staff members abducted on November 21 from St. Mary’s School, Papiri, have been released after more than two weeks in the hands of their captors. Following their release on December 9, the hostages — 99 students and one teacher— were taken to the city of Minna, capital of the state ...

During a risky trip to Cabo Delgado, home to ruthless jihadist violence, Cardinal Parolin thanked Aid to the Church in Need for its work. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, recently concluded a trip to Cabo Delgado, an insurgency-ridden region in Mozambique, where he met with the local Christian community in a show of solidarity from the Vatican and Pope Leo XIV. Although Mozambique is mostly Christian, Cabo Delgado, in the northeast of the country, is majority Muslim. ...

The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured the release of 100 children who had been kidnapped from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State. The release was formally confirmed to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) by the Bishop of the Diocese of Kontagora, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who said, “It is true. So far, 100 children have been released. We thank God for everything.” The children were among more than ...

“Evil will never win,” said Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, during a visit to the bishop of Kontagora, where over 300 children were kidnapped in late November. Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of the Diocese of Kontagora spoke about the pain of his community during a December 1 meeting with Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, following the mass kidnapping of over 300 children and staff of a Catholic school on November 21. About 50 of the students managed to escape, but ...

Catholic Bishops of Nigeria warn of escalating violence and call for urgent action to protect life and religious freedom Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) echoes the urgent appeal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), which warns of the deepening security crisis in the country and its devastating impact on Christian communities and other vulnerable groups. In a November 25 statement titled “Peace in Nigeria: Moving from Fragility to Stability,” the bishops denounce persistent violence that has ...

Tobias Yahaya almost lost his life during an attack on his home in Nigeria. Fortunately for him, his wife, and their four small children, Yahaya, who was stabbed in the chest, was saved by doctors in hospital. But Yahaya, a Catholic catechist, gained something more. And perhaps the wider community – his parish in Sokoto City and the predominantly Muslim population of Sokoto State in northwest Nigeria – gained a valuable example. Around 3 A.M. on April 19, 2023, the ...